Glenn Youngkin blasted over $2 billion ‘vanity project’ Entertainment District
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin recently announced an ambitious new Entertainment District in Alexandra. This would cost $2 billion to build which naturally raised eyebrows among critics of Youngkin surrounding the funding of the project. Originally announced on his personal Twitter account, Youngkin’s comments gained hundreds of replies with many of them condemning the plan as a vanity project.
Here, Youngkin’s statement read: ‘I’m pleased to announce a $2 billion partnership to create a world-class Entertainment District in the City of Alexandria! Virginia is the best place to live, work, raise a family and soon watch a basketball or hockey game.’
Interestingly, this drew the attention of Patrick Hedger, the Executive Director of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance who claimed: “No economist on the planet thinks something like this is a good idea. This team will come back asking for more and hold taxpayers hostage by threatening to leave. And if they do leave, we will be stuck with bonds on an even more empty stadium. Don’t. Do. This.”
Put more bluntly, one constituent replied saying: “Giving taxpayer money to billionaires to build a stadium only rich people can go to is not the role of government.”
Overall it will be interesting to see how this project economically performs over the years and whether Youngkin’s optimism is justified or whether his critics have a point.
