Bethlehem Should Bulldoze Martin Tower and Build a Third Downtown

I remember when this re-development would "ruin" Bethlehem too.

There, I said it. Not because I mean it, necessarily, but because it's the only legitimate idea out there. Downtown Bethlehem is an absolute jewel of a place, the business owners there do a great job running businesses, but between them and the NIMBY types who complain about all development in Bethlehem, now crying that the sky will fall if Martin Tower is redeveloped, I've simply read enough. Yes, the developer wants you to shut up and go away, because you're not really productive here. Perhaps the developer's idea does suck, that I don't dispute. It's still something.

A few points-

1. Martin Tower is an eyesore that is not going to be filled on it's own, period. No corporation is going to move into an old tower. Especially one with asbestos. The idea that the old glory of Bethlehem Steel will be restored with some new corporation in there is idiotic.
2. This is the perfect candidate for a CRIZ. It's a piece of land that used to produce big-time tax dollars and now just rots away. If you want someone to re-develop it, you need a distinction like this. You can fight the idea that the government is going to play a positive role in creating jobs and wealth by being involved in the economy, or you can embrace it. 
3. While I get that the normal people who speak out against all redevelopment at Bethlehem City Council meetings hate this idea, there's very little political opposition to this. Mayor Donchez supports the re-zoning. Councilman Reynolds supports it. They ran against each other for Mayor. I guess if you want to say that developers donate to them both, you can play that low blow, but nobody was saying that about the Mayor before, or Willie for that matter, because they aren't "pay-to-play" types. The fact is that a change in zoning is the right move, even if you disagree in this change.
4. For those who are saying they wanted to see a plan before the re-zoning, that is idiotic. That's against the entire process, and if the city had done that, you'd be crying foul about how they are re-zoning property to fit a major donor and developer's plan to make money. The Zoning Board has to make the changes first. Then a plan is submitted. After that, you can approve it. This isn't different than any other new development.
5. The City has absolutely underwrote the downtown's success with public money. No, it should not have been slammed in the face of the Hotel Bethlehem's chief, or any other business leader at a public meeting. That it wasn't brought up artfully doesn't make the point less right. I get that, like any other businesses, the ones in downtown don't want competition, and fear competition from a "third downtown" on the West End. I think they are being too fearful, they run wonderful businesses that I love frequenting (like I did last night). I also think they are being a bit hypocritical, as the city has played a big role in their success.
6. Many of the same people coming to the City Council meeting crying and complaining about the fate of Martin Tower also came and complained about the redevelopment on the South Side, the project that brought Sands Casino and Steel Stacks, amongst other things. That was the single greatest decision the City of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has made in my lifetime. It's an unassailable success, and these same types opposed that. You are supposed to lose credibility when you are badly wrong.

For me though, all of those points aside, the most important thing is that this comes down to problems and solutions. The problem here is that you have a large piece of land that used to supply thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenues, and now it supplies no jobs and no tax revenue. It sits there and rots. That is a major problem. Now you may say that the zoning ordinance in front of City Council is a bad solution. I am not claiming that it is necessarily a great idea, because I haven't read up enough on it to say that. It is a solution though, one that some people think can do some good in fixing the problem. The critics of this solution are offering nothing at all. They are offering to leave the zoning of Martin Tower's property "as is." That is an idiotic solution. Unless they have a company ready to move into an old tower, with asbestos, right now, then they have no solution. They aren't offering an alternative plan for change. They are simply shilling for a fantasy past that isn't coming back. This is as moronic as hoping that Ingersoll-Rand in Phillipsburg will be filled with industrial jobs again, or that Bethlehem Steel will rise from the grave to come back to South Bethlehem. If they aren't going to put forward a constructive plan, and their track record of opposing development isn't good, then just give them their worst nightmare and detonate Martin Tower and put all retail on the grounds. Of course that's a moronically simpleton idea from me, but frankly it's a lot more thought than the critics seem to be putting into what to do with the land.