Posted on 01/17/2009 4:19:43 AM PST by Zakeet
Tomorrow the Pittsburgh Steelers square off against the Baltimore Ravens, and the Philadelphia Eagles square off against the Arizona Cardinals. The winners will go head to head on Feb. 1 in Super Bowl XLIII.
If there ever was a time to crow about the wonders of rebuilding a city around a professional sports team, this would be it. Three of the four teams remaining in the play-offs hail from cities -- Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh -- that in recent years spent billions rebuilding their downtowns around pro sports facilities and other community "anchors."
Except that there's a problem. The teams might be competitive, but the cities definitely are not. All three continue to shrink in population, and have stagnant job markets and crumbling public schools.
Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were prototypes of the economic development fad of the 1990s: government-financed "investments" in economic development. They all practiced what was called "tin cup urbanism" -- the belief that the rest of society owed large taxpayer transfers to the urban cores from which most of us have fled. They all supped from the same cup: center city stadia, aquaria and subsidized retailia.
Philadelphia practiced "the core, the core, the core" as a development strategy while perfecting the art of the tin cup under the guidance of then Mayor (now Gov.) Ed Rendell in the late 1990s. The feeling in Philadelphia was that the city was being crushed by economic forces outside of its control, and that the country owes cities, owes them big, and should pay up.
We did pay up, although Philadelphia's population declined 4.3% in the 1990s. And we will likely pay much more under Barack Obama's "stimulus" plan to spend hundreds of billions on new infrastructure. But based on experience, we won't see much renewal.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
From the article: Pittsburgh has lost half of its population since the 1950s, the decade in which the city imposed its first individual income tax. That was the peak. Since then, each new tax designed to fund public works to "keep our young people here" spurs more and more people to call for a moving van.
Not being a football fan, you can walk up the baseball parks in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Detroit (have not been to Philly), and buy a ticket for a good seat on the day of the game.
Try that at Wrigley Field or Fenway Park. These are good places to see baseball games.
The Steelers and pro sports are about all Pittsburgh has that is positive anymore. Take them out and you have Morgantown, WV or even worse, Toledo, Ohio with some hills. The Dems and unions have run a wonderful city into the ground while driving out Gulf Oil, Rockwell, Dresser Industries, Westinghouse Airbrake, Mellon Bank (most of it), several huge steel corporations, and the list goes on.Very sad for those still living there.
Marx was wrong. Sports, not religion, is the opiate of the masses. I’m trying to cure my addiction.
Bread and circuses. Didn’t work out too well for the Romans, either.
Funny that none of the posters are from or have links to The ‘Burgh. Likely just DeCons.
What do the Pittsburgh Diaspera think?
http://burghdiaspora.blogspot.com/
Sports is indeed the opiate of the masses... I've seen evidence of it all of my life. I also suggest that sports IS a religion in this country, and one with more adherents than any other.
Mr. niteowl77
Excellent article-I savored every word...
We have recently moved from the Philly suburbs to Washington State. Although my husband’s income is exactly the same, (his job was being outsourced to India), we have about 10K more in spending money. Property taxes are 2000, versus 6000 for a similar home in Chester County. No state income tax. No local income tax. Not only did we have to pay PA state income tax on gross income, but income tax in both the township that DH worked and in the township where we lived. Much lower home owners and car insurance. Oh, and BTW, much better schools.
Let’s talk about the Canadian Football League. No subsidies, no unions and 40-50,000 fans at all the games. Most players make $50-60K, except for quarterback who, at most, might draw $500K salary.
Of course Phoenix underwent a similar renewal process, more focused around the baseball team than the football team, and it’s worked.
The snowbelt is bleeding people, with or without urban renewal, Americans are deciding in droves they don’t like the cold. It’s a decision my family made over 30 years ago so I can’t blame them. No amount of new buildings will change what kind of weather people want to live in.
And it’s the CFL mostly populated by people that couldn’t make it in the NFL. It’s slightly above a minor league sport.
It worked for Saint Paul. Before the Wild came to STP, it was a dead zone.
Minnesota is bleeding people just like the rest of the snow belt. The Wild might have helped consolidate the people that are staying, but it’s a delaying action, some other cities went further down.
Actually, MSP is one of the few snowbelt metros that are expanding. Now, if we can only advertise to the Southside of Shitcago how cold we are......
But I never really got the point of cheering for laundry.
"Can you speak Canadian?" - North Dallas Forty
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.