Roads or Basketball »
Not too terribly long ago, the City of Charlotte (technically, the City Council of Charlotte) decided to spend more than $400 million on a basketball arena. This building was then essentially given to the owner of the new basketball team to operate as he sees fit.
All arguments about economic impact aside, does anyone, anywhere think that it is better to spend this much money on a basketball arena than to spend the money on roads?
You read that right. The city is facing a $9.5 million shortfall on making road repairs (this, out of an annual budget of just $14 million), yet they build a basketball arena. Where else but in Charlotte would this make any sort of sense?
