Ed Glaeser on Buffalo

The video of Ed's recent talk is here. Well worth a watch.  Here's one take by Charity Vogel of the Buffalo News.  Your thoughts?

Comments

[Jerry]

I'd say both. For Buffalo, becoming lean and mean means becoming creative and livable.

Apple computer pulled back, restructured and started creating quality products instead of mass produced products. They positioned themselves to grow in a positive fashion.

Buffalo can do the same.

Unfortunately, restructuring can be a painful prospect.

[Buzzcut]

Ex-Buffalonian here. UB grad too.

There is nothing wrong with Buffalo that having the tax structure of Texas or Wyoming couldn't cure. The problem with Buffalo is that it has a midwestern economy and culture with an East Coast tax structure.

When I sold my home and moved to Chicago, my home in Chicago cost twice as much as the one in Buffalo, but the taxes were half. The income tax in Illinois is less than half of that in New York. The sales tax is the same, or a little less, depending on the town you're shopping in.

And Illinois isn't even a low tax state. States like Texas and Wyoming, without income taxes, just blow New York out of the water, cost wise.

It's the taxes, stupid. And there isn't a darn thing anyone upstate can do about it. Albany is controlled by Democrats from downstate, beholden to public employees who have no interest in anything but government spending and the taxes that pay for it.

So... with all due respect to Mr. Glasser and Mr. Florida, "re-invention" is not the answer.

Secession? Good luck with that.

The only alternative is to leave.

Isn't it funny that the Sun Belt is full of low tax states? And the dying Northeast is full of tax lovers?

[Zoe B]

Those Sun Belt states are happy to take federal tax money from the Northeastern states. What would happen if we limited their pull on the federal tit to the amount that they pay in? I'd bet their state taxes would go up.

[Buzzcut]

If that's the case, why don't the Northeast States do it? Why do Northeasterners advocate more government (being deep Blue states, one and all), but then get... what? Manipulated? Out of the money by the Sun Belt?

How does that work? Exactly?

Oh, I know, it's those waskily wepublicans again, manipulating bitter voters with guns and religion to vote against their true economic interests, a la "What's the Matter with Kansas".

Why doesn't anybody write a book as to why rich, educated northeasterners vote against THEIR economic interests by supporting the Democrat party?

[Zoe B]

Either residents of the Northeastern states lose out to the special interests, or they are content to share their wealth with others whom the federal government has deemed more needy.