Sunday, July 4, 2010

Stimulus Wood

Readers of this column have read my pet peeves about stimulus dollars spent on asphalt paving. 

Mere asphalt stimulates nearly nothing.  Highway projects must include opening up land for new development or redevelopment to truly be worth of stimulus status.

What of using stimulus act dollars to buy wood?

This is the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in 2009.


Here it is in 2010.
What's the difference besides me with my kids in front of the camera this year and the Dolles sign's flourescent paint fading?

The answer is stimulus wood.

Delaware and the City of Rehoboth Beach chose to put stimulus dollars to work replacing the concrete portion of the boardwalk where it meets Rehoboth Avenue with wood.

Since the ocean is only a few feet to the east, there's no room for development on one side of this stimulus project.  There's also the fact that the family photo album photos will more clearly show a boardwalk instead of a sidewalk.

Not too stimulating there.

Even so, I rank wood ahead of asphalt in the stimulus category.

Stimulus or not?  I'll leave the jury out on this one.

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