The State of the Stimulus
flickr; Grand Coulee Dam, spaceninja via flickr; U.S. Post Office facility in San Diego, amyfry2000 via flickr; /Artwork:
designslinger]
The President has embarked on the next phase of his plans to try and get the country out
of this mess, with his address to Congress last night. There will be more programs requiring more money in the next months and years, but for now we have an idea of what he wants to spend and where he wants to spend it.
One thing seems clear, the Obama stimulus is not the Roosevelt WPA, or any of the
alphabet agencies FDR put together during the early 1930s. It doesn't look like we will have grand architectural statements or massive art projects, but rather a nuts and bolts form of the WPA. The buzz word is infrastructure; lots of repaired curbs, roads, and bridges, new power systems, weatherization programs, nothing glamorous but very practical.
It's just interesting how different the Obama stimulus will look from some of FDR's New
Deal programs. We probably aren't going to have murals, post offices, or Bay Bridges to show our grandchildren, but hopefully, a lot of architects, engineers, construction workers and millions of other people, will find work through the President's efforts. I know the plan is meant to create jobs, but maybe we'll still get a great building or two out of this deal.
Broken, crumbly curb and asphalt, jeffmcneill via flickr; Wind turbines, Palm Springs, CA., alex_ferguson via flickr
Artwork: designslinger]
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