Sarkozy 'Greater Paris' plan given go-ahead by French government

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Guardian

The French government has approved an ambitious plan to extend Paris into the suburbs after months of speculation it would abandon the project.

The prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said a massive new transport network that would link major banlieues to the capital – a key element of the scheme for a "Greater Paris" – had been given the go ahead despite a massive increase in costs.

Ayrault said the scheme, originally launched by the former president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, showed "unprecedented ambition" and should be completed by 2030, five years later than planned.

He admitted it would cost far above the original €20.5bn (£17.8bn) budget, but insisted the money would be found.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/07/sarkozy-greater-paris-plan-go-ahead

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A public works program on this scale should create a huge number of jobs.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. And

Open up job opportunities to the poorest folks in the suburbs. If you go into these - you'll fund the equivalent of US Subsidized or "public" housing. My friend Mona grew up in a banlieue. Education got she and her brother into Paris . . . But many of the people she grew up with are still stuck there - they didn't get tracked to succeed in high school. Now with the economic situation there - there arent enough "blue collar" jobs.

This would be like getting folks to jobs in Bedminster and Bridgewater NJ from Newark. You can get out here - but it's a long walk to the office park on 206.