Clueless in Columbia

Once again, Barbara Russell, former Columbia Council member and self proclaimed first mother of Columbia, has demonstrated that she is clueless about the economics of development and Jim Rouse. In this “open letter” to John DeWolf in Explore Howard she suggests that Howard Hughes new development director “redevelop downtown Columbia with a more reasonable number of residences and a more reasonable amount of commercial and office space (much less than in the current plan) and include amenities throughout the downtown area attractive to all ages and different interests, the redevelopment of downtown Columbia would be a complete success story.”

In other words, she wants more amenities with less development.

Babs also tells John that she “knew Jim Rouse, and you are not Jim Rouse. But you could be.”

Is she suggesting that she knew Rouse better than Brookings Institute fellow John Lienberger?

I don't think so.