The process of actually building anything on Baltimore’s Westside Superblock is crawling verrry slowly, but the notion of giving its out-of-town developers $22.1 million worth of tax breaks is moving along at a smart clip.

On WYPR, The Brew’s Mark Reutter discussed the Superblock bill steaming through the City Council on its way toward the Board of Estimates and, if approved, a mayoral signature before year’s end.

Speaking on Midday with Dan Rodricks, Reutter looked back to the project’s past (it’s been stalled for a decade), its present (vacant lots, boarded up shops, crumbling historic buildings) and its future (under the pending agreement the first phase wouldn’t have to be completed until 2017).

Rodricks brought up the New York Times’ recent three-part series on the empty promise (and costly practice) of states granting tax subsidies to corporate America.

Reutter, who’s basically been writing that same story here in Baltimore, discussed the common themes.