Thanks to UIC Political Science doctoral student Doug Cantor for this link, which should be instructive for all those who think the trend toward privatization of local government functions is likely to be reversed anytime soon. But as with CID housing, the long term financing of private parks is a question mark:
"But unlike the great public parks built in previous eras, the new generation of flagship parks is almost completely dependent upon massive private support for its survival. Design decisions and the responsibility for maintenance and operations budgets have been outsourced to quasi-governmental organizations and "Friends" groups. The problem? It's unclear whether these kinds of public-private partnerships can be financially self-sustaining without completely selling out. To obtain private financing for parks, cities are selling naming rights, setting aside of sections of parkland for commercial development and allowing periodic closing of parks for fundraisers. Also in the toolkit are special tax districts to provide direct revenue streams for parks and the granting of controversial zoning concessions to private developers in exchange for donations."
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