Upstate Resignation . . .
From Fred Siegel at
City Journal . . .
Politically, much of upstate New York has teetered between rage and resignation for years. Begin with the rage: upstate New Yorkers are far likelier than Gothamites to agree with Tea Party supporters across the country in viewing the federal government as a threat to their interests, and they take an even harsher view of their own state government. . . . upstaters often consider Albany a semi-criminal enterprise run out of Manhattan. No wonder: the state’s executive-level leadership—its governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general—all hail from the New York City metro area, while upstate New York contains nine of the ten counties in America paying the highest property taxes as a percentage of home values, thanks partly to the fact that Albany requires counties to pay for a portion of Medicaid. . . .
New York’s next governor will face the task of reconciling the estrangement between coastal and midwestern New York. When I asked a well-educated upstate friend what he thought upstate should do if Andrew Cuomo—who plans to revive the region by rearranging its economic development agencies—wins the governor’s race, he replied, only half-jokingly: “We have to secede.” Here is the one area in which New York already leads the country: its residents, seceding on their own, have made it Number One in outmigration among the states. Or to use another word, they are resigning as New Yorkers.
Read the full article:
Upstate Rage or Resignation
5 comments:
"New York’s next governor will face the task of reconciling the estrangement between coastal and midwestern New York."
"Midwestern New York?" I call it simply "inland New York."
Secession isn't an option. Run the numbers. New York City's economic engine contributes more to state coffers that it gets back. Upstate to an extent gets a free ride from downstate. And upstate versus downstate isn't about rage or reform or good candidates or bad. It's about arithmetic. There's more of 'em down there than up here, and thousands arrive daily compared to only a few upstaters leaving hourly. (Plus, down there languages are many and folks are more colorful and their music is livlier and their food spicier. Third grade teachers tell us this is good for us and I suppose they're right.)
As for moving away .... well, our children are leaving for more and better opportunities and our seniors are retiring to places that treat them better re taxes and temperatures. Get used to it. Upstate is doomed. It will someday in the future be a great place to live without so many pesky neighbors, if you can find a way to make a living. I believe the forecast is for Herkimer County's population to plummet from over 60,000 residents to less than 20,000 in the next twenty years. Can you imagine what that will do to the tax base? Taxes will be astronomical because you know government payrolls won't be reduced. We're talking friends and family here.
I wish someone would do a study on the economics of Secession. Yes upstate gets more money from downstate however would that money be needed if counties did not have to pay Medicaid. Also I assume that the federal government would step in with grants and stimulus to get us over the initial shock as well.
We would also have to go without. How do you think other states survive without a major City sending money to the other half of the state? If they are able to do it why wouldn't upstate be able to do it as well?
Yes it would be different but looking at it on a single fact - that NYC sends upstate money - ignores all the other facts and nuances to the situation. With economic reform in upstate Secession might be possible.
Good points, Ryan. An unbiased study ... if possible in our highly charged politicized environment ... would be welcome input.
Dave makes an interesting demographic point. I've wondered for quite some time if one could take the exising age, fertility rate, out migration patterns and literally formulate the "death" of the area? My guess is that one could. It may be an interesting way to awaken those still here to the need for substantive change in all layers of our community.
Sure! There's evidently an existing algorithm for the "U.S. Population Clock," which now reads 310,662,751, so why not a County (of your choice) Death Watch Clock? We'd see it count down to when the only citizens left are public employees. :)
The U.S. Population Clock is now reading 310,662,773.
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