City Neighborhoods and Our Economy Need to Grow Together(September, 2000)
The "City" of New York, last expanded in 1898, long ago overgrew its boundaries. Its suburbs became cities themselves in Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey, all independent of, yet uniquely connected to the economy and other forces exerted by the central city and its five boroughs.
The urban, suburban and exurban areas in the New York Metropolitan region have increased their political strength in recent years, allowing them to enjoy the fruits the city has to offer without paying to support them. Most recently these areas relieved themselves through legislative and legal action of the burden of paying income taxes on pay received for employment in the city. Routine services such as police, fire, sanitation and street lighting are now available to these workers for free. The rest of New York State refuses to return an appropriate amount of tax revenue to the city for education, a circumstance the Campaign for Fiscal Equity has been trying to rectify through the courts. Clean water has created another metro-area crisis as New York City struggles to keep its endangered water supply free of pollutants created by once rural, now suburban, development. The city long ago lost the right to impose residency requirements on city employees, losing not only the tax benefits of its own workers, but also creating a civil service work force increasingly out of touch with the public it is paid to serve, and at times even openly hostile to the expectations of city residents.
It is not only the "outsiders" who take a very narrow view of the needs of city neighborhoods and residents. The giants of our own downtown economy need to recognize that it is in their own self interest to foster livable, affordable communities within the boundaries of the city proper. As New York City's service, finance, tourist and technology economy continues to expand, so does the need for workers. These workers in turn need places to live, raise families and improve their educations.
In order for New York to continue to compete with the rest of the nation and even the world for the workers it needs, we must provide communities for workers in all income bands. Working class households are finding very limited options in the metropolitan area and within the city itself. They must either pay too much to live in a wealthier city or suburban neighborhood, commute long distances from outlying counties or choose a city neighborhood which has not yet benefited from the city's "revival" in terms of police, educational and other city services.
Any way you look at it, workers face an increasingly disagreeable choice of paying too much, traveling too far, receiving too little and sometimes a combination of all three.
This reduces the quality of life for anyone looking to remain or come to the metropolitan area. The city's business community needs to take a hard look at what's available for its current and potential workers in terms of living conditions. And it needs to pay more than lip service to efforts to improve those options.
Many of the neighborhoods of the "outer boroughs" and certain sections of Manhattan are feeling the pressure of this expanding economy. It is not a case of classic gentrification. More and more working households are living in our neighborhoods. They are often the children of local households starting their own families, as well as new immigrants to New York and the United States. They are finding increasing rents, but not improved housing conditions. They are paying state and local income taxes but not finding adequate police protection, parks, sanitation and other city services. They are paying towards real estate taxes but not finding quality schools for their children.
The city business community must get involved in the state of our neighborhoods if they are to become and remain reasonable resources for housing employees. They must be certain we are receiving adequate mass transit including clean and safe subway stations, improved scheduling from Metro North and Express Bus service in and out of Manhattan. They must put pressure on officials to build new schools and repair the crumbling facilities too frequently found in our communities. These schools will only produce good employees if they have the physical plants to do so. Our streets need to be made as safe as the streets of the central business areas. And they must look at ways to help preserve and improve the crucial existing housing stock in the outer boroughs. Private rental housing is increasingly expensive and too often poorly maintained. Programs to encourage physical improvements with affordable price tags must be supported by private and public partnerships.
Improved housing and city services in neighborhoods too often overlooked will help not only those communities and their residents, but also build a stronger economy and future for the city itself.
John M. Reilly
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