Almost all of us would like to have a better paying job. It is commonly believed that the lack of jobs in Upstate New York is causing people to leave, and restricting opportunity in our region. The solution commonly floated around is an aggressive economic development policy that will attract high paying jobs to our region.

There are many problems with those policies. Many economic development policies are open ended, and are for grandeurous plans that are not grounded in reality. Many policies do not focus on rebuilding communities but solely at jobs. We also take steps to mitigate environmental impacts.

No Reality in Development Policies

Economic development efforts often occur in secret with little knowledge of the public. Elected officials argue that business are unwilling to explore moving into areas unless they can negotiate in secret with them. Elected officials also argue that areas must develop their lands to be shovel ready for development, even if there are no known clients for a specific project.

Both of those claims have some grounds in reality. Yet, too often public officials think too grandeurous and use secrecy to design and build projects that are not only inappropriate for the communities they serve, but also for businesses they would attract. Why build small when your legacy as an elected official depends on thinking big and making the public believe that they are on a cusp of major change in their region?

The result is often big grandeous technology and retail parks that are undeveloped and underused. These parks are often sprawling and far away from urban ammenties, requiring costly utilities to be brought out to them. What businesses come to these parks often get generous tax breaks, that often cost more then what they give back back to their communities.

Good Development is Limited

There have been very few economic development projects that have been truly successful in Upstate New York or anywheres else in the rust belt. Most projects have a limited impact for specific groups of people, and the most successful projects tend to be the smallest and most limited.

Indeed the best investment government can make in economic development is investing in local communities. Supporting local businesses and improving infrastructure can do much to improve life in our communities. Our cities are the places that need the most help, and we need to rethink them. Many need to be rebuilt at their cores to become multi-modal and friendly for all people to live and flourish in.

We must also try to keep jobs by providing our existing businesses the support they need. We have to keep energy costs down and assist them at becoming more energy efficient. We need to minimize taxes that make them unprofitable. They in exchange need to make sure they are good citizens and contributing as much from society as they take.

Development Needs To Look At Environmental Impacts

Any time there is new jobs there is going to be a a growth in population. That can effect people in many ways. It make it difficult for people to afford housing, and cause assessed values to increase to the point that it makes property taxes nearly impossible to afford. It also can increase pollution and increase the need for planning.

Most of those downsides can be mitigated through planning to a certain extent. We can put limits on land use, and force development in selected areas, and re-development in urban areas. Growth can be controlled and made sensible through planning that emphasizes mitigating environmental impacts. Our SERQA laws do much to assist in that process.