The culture of Upstate New York is centered in its six largest cities. Five are strung along the Thruway as it cuts west from Albany to Buffalo following the track of the Erie Canal. Albany, the capital, has always benefited from a large number of state employees. Utica benefited from nearby giant Griffiss Air Base, breweries and numerous manufacturing jobs in small factories filled by hard working immigrants, mostly Italian. Syracuse was a transportation hub and center of manufacturing with Carrier air conditioners, Crucible Steel and General Electric. Rochester still remembers the heyday of Kodak. Buffalo has a deep history of manufacturing, shipping and electricity generation. Binghamton, the only major upstate city not on the Thruway, had IBM, Endicott-Johnson shoes as well as a host of other manufacturing giants. At one time Upstate was a very good place for a person with a high-school diploma and a good work ethic.
In the twenty or so years I've lived in central New York all of this manufacturing has been radically scaled back or just shut down. Griffiss Air Base closed in 1995. The cities that were built on manufacturing and transportation now survive on retail, education, prisons, health care and social services. The population has slowly declined as young people look for better opportunities elsewhere. Central cities have generally emptied out. Suburbs sprawl. Almost all the major local retailers moved to malls, only to be displaced by chain stores filled with merchandise made elsewhere. A small core of middle class people continue to live in the better urban neighborhoods, but significant parts of all six cities are steadily deteriorating. A high-school diploma no longer assures steady well-paid work.
All this is not news to anyone living Upstate.
Merry, Joli and I have lived in Strathmore, a stable old residential neighborhood on the west side of Syracuse, since the spring of 1999. Our early 1900s vintage home was inexpensive compared to similar space in the suburbs while being architecturally distinctive. We like our neighborhood a lot. It's only a mile from downtown where I work. On fine days I can easily walk home if I choose to. There is a bus stop right across the street, so we function well with just one car. We have a beautiful park with a big lake only a block way. It's convenient to attend the Symphony, Syracuse Stage and numerous other cultural events. Restaurants are plentiful, dozens within a few minutes drive. We shop at a near-by family-owned grocery and buy local produce at the giant year-round regional farmer's market. High quality health care is nearby. City services such as street cleaning and garbage pick-up are free. Sounds great, right?
Almost all our friends live in the suburbs or in the country. They say they need good schools. They want to avoid poverty and crime. They want their kids to be safe. They spend a lot of time commuting, but they say it's worth it. They get depressed driving through blighted city neighborhoods. I don't blame them at all for these views. Unfortunately, urban flight makes the city's problems worse. With less people there is less money for city services, parks, and schools. As higher earners leave, overall prosperity in the city declines. The city's problems become self-perpetuating.
This pattern exists in all six upstate cities to a greater or lesser degree. Nonetheless some cities seem to be doing quite a bit better than others in holding off and even reversing urban decay. Albany always seems prosperous to me except for the very heart of downtown. Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo all have partly deserted old downtowns but have thriving center city cultural institutions that seem to be keeping the heart of those cities alive. Binghamton seems to be struggling mightily. Utica has a few remaining bright spots but seems to be sinking.
An interesting snapshot of the health of America's cities was recently published by the financial website Portfolio.com. They used the latest census data to compare the combined education and income of residents age 25 and older for the 200 largest metropolitan areas. They derived a “brainpower” index that allowed ranking based on deviation from the national average, i.e. the top 100 cities were above the national average. Index scores ranged from plus 3.941 for Boulder, Colorado, to minus 2.558 for Merced, California.
I extracted the data for the six Upstate cities. This is the result:
National Grad/Prof College Some college High School No
Rank Index Degree Degree up to Asso. Degree Degree Pop 25+
28 Albany 0.939 14.83% 18.33% 28.89% 28.33% 9.62% 574,255
49 Rochester 0.632 13.05% 18.61% 29.08% 27.90% 11.37% 686,413
72 Syracuse 0.342 12.13% 16.44% 30.28% 30.45% 10.70% 427,645
77 Buffalo 0.299 12.52% 15.69% 29.65% 30.91% 11.23% 771,830
87 Binghamtn 0.096 11.26% 14.66% 31.59% 32.35% 10.13% 166,467
171 Utica -0.909 07.56% 11.24% 32.23% 35.07% 13.90% 201,014
The entire list can be found at http://www.portfolio.com/graphics/BrainiestBastions.pdf
Read more at: http://www.portfolio.com/special-reports/2010/12/01/methodology-of-portfolio-2010-survey-of-smartest-places#ixzz176L9h3ka
I found it interesting that five of the six Upstate cities ranked above average. Otherwise the index confirms my own impressions. Syracuse and Buffalo are doing a bit better than average probably due to colleges, hospitals and government services, but not nearly as well as Rochester and Albany. Binghamton is pretty close to the national average and Utica falls near the bottom.
When measuring quality of life, brainpower is not everything, but it does measure relative prosperity very well. Upstate has plentiful natural beauty and outdoor recreation. It has productive farmland. It has a rich and interesting cultural heritage. Nonetheless, I find these numbers tell a compelling story.
Ed - Upstate New York's sad story has its roots in a US Supreme Court decision and state policy.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1960s Oneida County (Utica area) was one of the faster growing counties in the country, but now there are fewer people than then. The pattern is similar over almost all of Upstate outside the Capital District (which runs on our tax dollars).
What changed? The reapportionment of the State Legislature based on a US Supreme Court Decision (WMCA v Lomenzo). Equal protection under the law somehow got translated as one man = one vote in making the laws. The Founding Fathers of the country knew this would have bad consequences for the less populated states, and set up a bicameral legislature with one house based on geography (2 senators per state regardless of population) and the other based on population. New York State was similarly arranged, to ensure that the interests of all geographic areas within the state would be accounted for in policy and legislation.
With the Supreme Court's decision, NY was transformed to a pure democracy style of government from a republic style of government. The careful balancing of Upstate and Downstate interests which led to New York's overall wealth as the Empire State gave way to Downstate control.
With Upstate's inhabitants subject to the tyranny of the majority (so much for "equal protection"), state policy reflected a distinctly Downstate perspective. Upstate's interests went unrecognized and un-addressed. Downstate continued to grow while Upstate withered. Interestingly, Downstate became forced to bear the burden of propping-up Upstate financially.
The delicate balance set up by New York's founders worked incredibly well for almost 200 years until the Supreme Court destroyed it. Until it is fixed, Upstate will continue to decline.