Urban planner criticizes parts of Wichita's downtown revitalization

Published Feb. 5, 2010 at 12:08 p.m.

A visiting urban-planning economist from a Washington think tank criticized on Thursday the way Wichita is trying to revitalize its downtown.

The city's focus on publicly subsidized high-density housing and "walkability" has failed almost everywhere it's been tried and is not all that likely to work here, said Randal O'Toole, a senior fellow from the Cato Institute.

He was particularly critical of tax increment financing, a process cities use to encourage development by setting aside expected future property tax growth.

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