Sun editorial:

A bold new partnership

UNLV joins Brookings Institution to advance dialogue on Western regional issues

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 | 2:09 a.m.

The announcement Tuesday that UNLV will team up with the prestigious Brookings Institution to address growth, energy and other Western issues is an endeavor that will pay substantial dividends to both the university and the nonpartisan Washington think tank.

As reported by Emily Richmond in the Las Vegas Sun, Brookings scholars will serve rotating residencies in Las Vegas, where they will interact with UNLV faculty and staff and hold seminars and public lectures.

UNLV, under what is billed as the Mountain West Initiative, will benefit by having access to a think tank that has major influence on public policy in Washington. Members of Congress and leaders at government agencies rely on input from Brookings to help shape legislation and innovative new programs.

A UNLV researcher, by extension, potentially could play a significant role in policy decisions by sharing research with Brookings scholars.

Brookings, whose trustees include Sun Editor Brian Greenspun, could also benefit from the partnership with UNLV in the think tank’s quest to advance the concepts it recommended last year in a study of five states that make up the southern Intermountain West.

Nevada and the other states — Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah — were identified by Brookings as part of an emerging American heartland with shared interests as a growing region. All five states face challenges on issues involving water, transportation, energy, the economy and immigration. Brookings suggested that the five states work together in seeking help from the federal government to solve regional problems.

The participation by UNLV underscores how institutions of higher education can play a key role in regional problem solving. The university has experts with working knowledge of Western issues. Brookings will take advantage of that expertise.

Combined with last month’s announcement that the Lincy Institute, financed by businessman Kirk Kerkorian, will support research at UNLV on health care, education and social services in Southern Nevada, the university’s Brookings affiliation will greatly enhance the school’s imprint in the West.

This is the kind of research that will have a positive effect on the quality of life of Southern Nevadans.

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By Patrick_R_Gibbons

Sept. 9, 2009

9:01 a.m.

Flag

Urban and regional planning is where Brookings needs to walk away from. Their reports on this subject are maddeningly horrific. You CANNOT subsidize your way to sustainable growth. You CANNOT tax your way to a diverse economy. And light rail has been one of the biggest boondoggles in the nation.

Phoenix, for example, just finished its light rail for $1.4 billion or $70 million a mile. You could complete 50 to 100 miles of 4 lane highway (carrying far more traffic, reducing congestion and far more pollution) for the same price. Worse still, Phoenix stands to lose $28 million a year just operating the rail -- that does NOT include paying back the bonds, and this is with the Phoenix Metro's very optimistic estimations.

The last thing you want to do is emulate Phoenix or Portland for urban planning -- those cities could NOT have done a worse job. Portland is an expensive and congested disaster read more about it here: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_...

As for rail, read more about the boondoggles here:

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2007/10/1...
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_...
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_...
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/06/0...
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_...
By ksand99 (Kevin Sandoval)

Sept. 9, 2009

10:58 p.m.

Flag

"You could complete 50 to 100 miles of 4 lane highway (carrying far more traffic, reducing congestion and far more pollution) for the same price."

Ah, but not in the same LOCATION as the light rail, Patrick. What good is a highway that doesn't take you where you need to go? Further, a four-lane highway in the same location as the light rail would've required an abuse of emminent domain like our nation has never seen. Surely NPRI wouldn't condone such government theft?

Or at least I'm assuming you know that the light rail runs downtown to the airport, since you go on to criticize Phoenix urban planning. Huh, I wonder why you would compare building a light rail in a congested downtown area to constructing a freeway on open land? More dishonesty? Tell me, what's the square footage of the Greenspun Building again?

It's nice to see NPRI already on the attack. Guess you guys can't handle the competition from a nationally renowned organization like Brookings.