Correlation Is Not Causation

What is Maud Robinson's favorite technique to justify the Windover Heights Historic District? Robinson loves to point out the expensive, new homes built in the District. In her world of political spin, the new homes are the direct result of the District. Robinson knows this is BS. She knows correlation is not causation.

There are no more new million-dollar homes in the historic district than other areas of Vienna. In fact, there are many run down homes in need of demolition in the District that would have otherwise already been torn down in other areas of Vienna. After what Robinson, Lovelace and Cole did to this homeowner, people are afraid of becoming the next historic lamb. This all comes down to Maud Robinson's censorship of our choices:

"The economic arguments for historic preservation rules-that they foster community benefits like urban renewal, local business growth, and rising property values-falsely presume that a political elite knows better how to manage property than do the individuals who actually own the properties. And supplanting the aesthetic choices of the property owner with the edicts of the historical commission isn't just bad economics; it's censorship. The government has no more business imposing aesthetic controls on our buildings than it does on our clothes or our cars."

Unfortunately Vienna is one big step worse than so-called "aesthetic controls". Vienna has no specific controls. Vienna's rules are made up on the fly and are different at every meeting.