Mitchell Moss' "Struggling Towns Must Evolve or Die" is, perhaps, the most provocative for Upstaters.
The entire state cannot survive if we continue to act as if all 62 counties can flourish. . . . as upstate shrinks, it commands a higher and higher per capita chunk of the state budget. New York City taxpayers send billions of dollars upstate for unnecessary shopping malls, transportation projects and prisons, giving new meaning to the phrase “welfare state.” Meanwhile, vital upgrades to transportation and public services essential to accommodate the expanding New York City area are deferred. . . .Thirty years ago the shoe was on the other foot. It was New York City that was on the verge of bankruptcy and seemed totally beyond hope -- at least until Mayor Giuliani appeared on the scene, who turned things around. That turn-around established that the City's problems were largely self-inflicted.
Across the Midwest and Great Plains, state governments have allowed towns with a proud past but no discernible future to fade away. New York must do the same.
Prof. Moss places the blame on Upstate itself, painting Upstate as a collection of defective communities. While we certainly have our shortcomings -- such as far too much local government for our population -- the economic problem has been so ubiquitous across Upstate for so many decades (touching almost all communities north and west of Newburgh) that it is pretty clear that the bulk of Upstate's problems are not of local origin, but rooted in New York State policy . . . policy that is now controlled by Downstate interests.
It was not always that way. Until the court-mandated reapportionment of the State Senate in the 1960s, Upstate held sway in the Senate while Downstate controlled the Assembly. For laws to be passed, Upstate and Downstate interests had to accommodate each other. And it worked . . . spectacularly. Both parts of the state flourished. We collectively were the Empire State.
But things are different now. Upstate cannot choose a Mayor Giuliani to implement policies to turn Upstate around because Upstate will always be outvoted by Downstate. The court-mandated reapportionment of the 1960s led to the changes in policy that have caused Upstate's decline.
The fiscal crisis is bringing things into sharp focus. New York State is at a fork in the road and must do something if Upstate is not to die. Either balance between Upstate and Downstate is returned to New York State policy making, or Upstate and Downstate must each proceed down separate paths.
Downstate to Upstate: Fade Away
Upstate to Downstate: Set Us Free
4 comments:
The problem with the article is that there is no mention of steps that can and should be taken to reverse the situation. One here gets amused at our state reps waxing not too eloquently on how much we have to reform state government yet having absolutely no power or influence to accomplish any thing of the sort. We just waste a lot of money on their and their staff's salaries and perks.They are simply meaningless in Albany as the article points out.
I suspect Mitchell Moss will fade away first. It's no Superbowl, but we'll take it.
Imagine the arrogance of Professor Mitchell Moss. Elitists like Professor Moss feel justified in calling for euthanizing upstate communities. “. . . Accept the inevitable. Across the Midwest and Great Plains, state governments have allowed towns with a proud past but no discernible future to fade away. New York must do the same”. However, when they seek to trample and devastate the upstate environment by placing hydro electric high voltage transmission lines in the center of the upstate streets and parks in order to pander to the ultra wealthy downstate developers, upstate can then serve a purpose for them.
If the 2010 census numbers indicate that upstate New York has become irrelevant at election time, the downstate elitist will have their way as advocated by Professor Moss, and turn the upstate communities into ghost towns. In order to place the downstate shoe on the other foot, upstate needs to consolidate its too many governments and miniscule school districts that are taking too much utility out of the upstate economies of scale and secede from the State of New York. The new stronger upstate government will be able to reconfigure their economic development impediments by bringing equilibrium to the overpriced power rates and transportation expenses. Then upstate could command a premium price for their hydro power and agricultural goods that their downstate brethren have been stealing from them for many years.
Many years ago there was a movement to separate NY, with upstate possibly joining with Vermont to form New Vermont and the city going on it's own or perhaps joining with Jersey. I offered at that time to take my saws and dozer down to cut it loose and push the city further into the Atlantic. The offer still stands. Had we done it at the time, we wouldn't have had to accept all of the city's prisoners and their welfare trash familys that followed them up here and brought their dope and crime with them. As Greens and Beans said,----- "upstate needs to consolidate its too many governments and miniscule school districts that are taking too much utility out of the upstate economies of scale and secede from the State of New York. The new stronger upstate government will be able to reconfigure their economic development impediments by bringing equilibrium to the overpriced power rates and transportation expenses. Then upstate could command a premium price for their hydro power and agricultural goods that their downstate brethren have been stealing from them for many years."----
The City has absolutely nothing we need and we have a lot they need including the hydro, food and don't forget the water, to say nothing of the recreational resources. They took over Vermont and turned a great state into a bastion of liberalism. We've all seen it happening here too. They come up here, buy a tract of land and immediately post it. By doing this they inflate the prices and price the locals out of the market. I say let's split the state then we can charge them an out of state property owners surcharge, right of way fees for power transmission, and water depletion fee. Then we'll see who fades away and becomes irrelevant.
Don Ho
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