Week Five- Last Blog!

                After watching “23 ½ Hours,” I would propose that the policy we use to help America’s declining health be Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program, and other programs similar to it. Mike Evans made a very convincing argument in his lecture filled with countless facts from reliable sources, which makes it clear to me that the best thing we can do for our health is exercise. Because exercise has been shown to be so vital to our health, I think that exercise is the best thing to focus on in a policy meant to bring about change in the health of America. This would also be a much easier policy to create and implement because almost all people agree that exercise should be encouraged. Another policy aimed at health that instead focused on trying to limit consumption of sugar filled beverages or fast food would not be successful because people do not like to be told what they can and cannot eat. We cannot force people to stop eating fast food, but we can encourage them to get up and move. For many people, just making one simple life change like walking for 30 minutes a day can affect other aspects of their lives as well, and before we know it, people may start choosing to eat healthier on their own. By focusing on exercise, we can merely tell people the facts and show them how easy it is to make a change by doing simple things such as taking the stairs or walking to work.

                I think that the government should be involved in promoting healthier habits, should never try to impose or enforce any kind of rules about exercising. As we live in a free country, the government really can’t force American citizens to do exercise every day, but the government can still help the country to get healthier by teaching children about the lifelong benefits of exercise in school, as well as offering a physical education class to children every day, and by making information on exercise and health easier to understand and widespread. The Let’s Move program has already done a great job at promoting children and their parents to get in some exercise every day through play, but I think that for it to be most effective, there needs to be a much bigger effort on the marketing front. If the government really wants American citizens to be healthier and start exercising, they need to hold more events that encourage people to move, but ads on TV that tout the benefits of exercise, and make information readily available for anyone that wants to learn more, such as through fliers or public service announcements. The government can make a significant change, but government officials must let the American people change themselves, and only give them a nudge in the right direction.

                Ever since the Affordable Healthcare Act was proposed, the American people have had split opinions on whether it would help our nation or harm it. Right from the start, there have been many concerns over whether this was the right thing to do. According to the Urban Institute “if federal reform efforts fail, over the next decade, the percent of the population that is uninsured will increase, employer-sponsored coverage will continue to erode, spending on public programs will balloon, and individual and family out of pocket costs will rise.” This is a very scary future to look forward to if the Healthcare Act is to fail. However, there is a possibility that it will succeed and do great things for our nation. After reading the articles, I would say that most concerns with the policy’s implementation align with economic factors. What people are most concerned with now is how things will affect our already unstable economy. A good move could pull us back into prosperity, and a bad one could throw us into another depression. These are all very valid concerns to have, but no one seems to be focused on the health factor. The economy is very important, but this policy is meant to help people get healthy and stay healthy. I suppose that only time will tell as to whether the Affordable Healthcare Act will do more damage or good, but hopefully more good things will come than bad.

Week Four

              For this blog I have decided to talk about economic development in Pearland, Texas. The strengths of Pearland from an economic development perspective are numerous. The biggest factor that I saw was the available land. Pearland has quite a lot of open land that can be developed into anything to suit a business’ needs. I thought this was a huge advantage over a city such as Tempe, where there are only a few parcels of open land, and no room to expand because Tempe is surrounded by more city in every direction. The abundance of open land in Pearland would also bring costs down, which would be enticing to businesses. Another great feature of Pearland is its proximity to Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston, as it is no more than a few hours by car to get to any of these cities. Pearland’s proximity to all of these major cities means that any business that moves there has a huge available workforce to tap into, as the many freeways allow for people to commute from further away. They are also very close to a major port, which lowers costs of goods that are imported by boat. Another plus is the proximity to an international airport, which would allow for businesses to easily send their employees on business trips if need be. The industries already seemed to be more diverse in Pearland, than in Saratoga, for example, where it seemed like technology was the main focus. With a more diverse set of businesses in Pearland, the local economy will do much better as it will never rely on a single industry alone. Out of all of the cities I learned about this week, Pearland seems to be by far the best choice from an economic development perspective.

                I’m not sure that the city council would need a proposal to entice businesses to move to Pearland. The land costs are already very low because of the abundance of available land to build on, which is already a huge incentive for businesses. When you add that to the fact that Pearland has many available housing options, is near a major port and international airport, and has one of the largest medical centers in the country, I cannot see how the city council could possibly give any more incentive for businesses to come. In Urban Policy Reconsidered, it was mentioned that many of the textile factories that were once housed in Philadelphia moved elsewhere as the companies saw how low land prices were. I think that the same can happen with the huge amount of available land in Pearland. All types of businesses will want to move to a place where the land prices are low and there is a very abundant available workforce. The only thing that may entice businesses more is if the city were able to offer them some sort of tax break, although that may not be economically sensible when the land prices are already so low, which already means less money will come in from taxes. I believe that Pearland has enough to offer that the city council does not need anything big to entice businesses to move their operations there.

                I do not think I would apply Pearland for a Hope VI grant. The program seemed to work well, and produced a sense of community, but it does involve tearing people’s houses down. I think that this would be hard for the residents of Pearland, and it would make certain areas very unsightly, which would not entice new businesses to come in. Safer housing and safer communities are always a plus, but Pearland seems to be doing great as it is now. From what I saw, Pearland seems to be thriving, and other cities would probably see a much greater benefit from a Hope VI grant than Pearland would.