Bozeman is the state’s fastest growing and most prosperous city. Much of our public discourse centers around how to manage the stresses that come with our growing popularity. Hence, I was surprised to read that the Bozeman City Commission will soon decide if the northeast section of town is a “blighted” area. This designation will facilitate the creation of an Urban Renewal District (URD).

Montana Code (Title 7 Chapter 15 part 42) defines a blighted area as one that is “conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, and crime; substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the city or its environs; retards the provision of housing accommodations; or constitutes an economic or social liability or is detrimental or constitutes a menace to the public health, safety, welfare, and morals in its present condition....” This description may fit the Bronx, but Bozeman?

Bridger Realty has plans to develop the Mill District into an upscale “urban village.” They envision a collection of commercial and residential spaces all designed to reflect the area’s historic character. This proposal targets Bozeman’s affluent newcomers. You can check it out on the web at www.bozemanmilldistrict.com.

Bridger Realty’s consultant, ThinkTank Design Group, finds that the northeast neighborhood is in disrepair. Among other things, it has “vacant land, underutilized property and many neglected and dilapidated properties.... Many historic buildings in the area ... have been neglected and gone into disrepair. The street network is below standard and in many cases nonexistent. This region has also been a bottle neck in the city’s transportation plan, and solutions...could be reconciled through the creation of a URD.”

Really? Well maybe, but the Mill District (and indeed the entire east end of Bozeman) is in the midst of a natural renaissance. Some of the historic homes and buildings are under renovation. New buildings are cropping up on vacant lots. This area is one of the few places left in town that retains a working class neighborhood. When I checked on the availability of vacant lots I found none for sale. Neighborhood “renewal” seems already well underway. Why the push for city government to step in?

Despite assurances to the contrary, and protections under Montana law, some residents are concerned the creation of a URD will lead to the condemnation of their property. The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Kelo case, allowing cities to seize private property and turn it over to private developers, fuels their fears.

This reaction is not surprising, for Americans take the sanctity of property rights for granted. The victims of Kelo remind us of the importance of secure property rights in a moral system fostering prosperity.

It is the nature of politics that government actions are motivated by the well-off and well-organized. They benefit at the expense of weaker and poorer citizens. In her Kelo dissent, Justice O’Connor explains this pathology: “[T]he fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.... The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.”

Indeed they didn’t. In fact they were preoccupied with designing institutions that would prevent such acts. For, like Justice O’Connor, they understood that when rights to property are insecure, all other rights are at risk.

Defending property rights often brings sneers from “right thinking” people. As Don Boudreaux, chairman of the economics department at George Mason University, notes, “arguing against government policies because they infringe on property rights -- that they steal -- is today the intellectual equivalent of taking your date to a tractor pull: a sure sign that you are low brow.”

In 1961, Jane Jacobs published The Death and Life of Great American Cities. It was a strong critique of urban renewal. Jacobs pointed out that vibrant urban neighborhoods develop organically according to the demands of those who live and work there. Urban renewal’s sorry history is the result of governmental interference, usually at the behest of private development interests.

Mill District residents should be skeptical and demand city commissioners provide a compelling case for designating their neighborhood “blighted.”