This Is How To Do It

I do hate to keep tooting John Branston's horn, but damn, the guy gets it right most of the time. In this week's opinion piece, he nails it.

In his look at the proposed Promenade development, Branston starts:

Since it was created in 2000, the Riverfront Development Corporation has picked most of the low-hanging fruit -- landscaping and maintaining parks, putting a median strip in Riverside Drive, building stairways from the bluff to Tom Lee Park and a walkway above the cobblestones, holding a design competition for a new riverboat landing and observation point, and commissioning a master plan for the riverfront.

Now comes the hard part -- the proposed makeover of the Promenade, including private high-rise developments, demolition and relocation of public buildings and parking garages, a controversial land bridge, and the money to do these things. And what about Mud Island River Park and The Pyramid?

Branston then goes on to make specific suggestions, naming names, on how to approach the "question" of what to do "about" the Promenade. He points the way to a whole lot of good questions to ask and people to interview. He is skeptical, but he keeps his eye on the central question, "What's best?" He's knowledgable and he employs that knowledge usefully.

I really wish this town had a dozen more reporters and journalists just like him.