Post by Clipper on Sept 30, 2010 11:08:12 GMT -5
That article was very informative Alan. If it can be done in a place with as much urban decay as Philadelphia Pa, it certainly could be accomplished in a smaller city such as Utica. It is sad that more attention isn't given to programs to sell those properties in Utica that fall into city hands due to unpaid taxes. It would benefit them to sell those properties to marginally qualified buyers and to help them get grants and loans to fix the homes up. Many living in the inner city have jobs, stable families, but are below the poverty line when it comes to conventional financing. I would much rather see tax money invested in people such as that and in the neighborhoods, than to see money peed away time after time on tax breaks and PILOT programs aimed at attracting commercial establishments such as hotels and office park developers, or development dreams that have no chance of coming to fruition in the next couple of decades.
The graft factor that Dave mentions would be a player for sure in politically corrupt Utica NY. It is very sad to watch my hometown lose out time after time because of the politics in the city. Cities all around Utica have survived and thrived even in the hardest of times. Syracuse continues to grow, and even Rome, with the loss of Griffiss has managed to recover from adversity and maintain a stable environment for raising a family or for employers looking for a stable and productive workforce and a business friendly local government.
Rome is a smaller city, but they somehow manage to maintain a much better school system, and their basic infrastructure has been better maintained over the years so the city is not crumbling with decay.
As much as I love the city of Utica, if I were moving to the area and had children, I would be looking to buy a home in Rome, rather than Utica. Utica will never see progress economically as long as city hall is such a quagmire and cesspool of corruption, nepotism, patronage, suspected graft and personal greed, and ridiculous infighting.
My idea of what would bring honesty and progress to Utica politics would be for someone to come from somewhere else, not raised in the city, with no political connections or old money behind them from previously politically active individuals. In other words, Utica's salvation depends on taking politics out of East Utica and doing away with the friends and family plans of the past. Utica would benefit from a law prohibiting anyone in office from hiring anyone related by blood or by marriage.
The graft factor that Dave mentions would be a player for sure in politically corrupt Utica NY. It is very sad to watch my hometown lose out time after time because of the politics in the city. Cities all around Utica have survived and thrived even in the hardest of times. Syracuse continues to grow, and even Rome, with the loss of Griffiss has managed to recover from adversity and maintain a stable environment for raising a family or for employers looking for a stable and productive workforce and a business friendly local government.
Rome is a smaller city, but they somehow manage to maintain a much better school system, and their basic infrastructure has been better maintained over the years so the city is not crumbling with decay.
As much as I love the city of Utica, if I were moving to the area and had children, I would be looking to buy a home in Rome, rather than Utica. Utica will never see progress economically as long as city hall is such a quagmire and cesspool of corruption, nepotism, patronage, suspected graft and personal greed, and ridiculous infighting.
My idea of what would bring honesty and progress to Utica politics would be for someone to come from somewhere else, not raised in the city, with no political connections or old money behind them from previously politically active individuals. In other words, Utica's salvation depends on taking politics out of East Utica and doing away with the friends and family plans of the past. Utica would benefit from a law prohibiting anyone in office from hiring anyone related by blood or by marriage.
