Blog after blog, example after example, article after article, we're seeing the ongoing, gentle and not-so-subtle decline of the Gate City.It's taken a BusinessWeek article, a public safety emergency (that's growing day by day by day by day)...and articles suggesting corporate donors on the decline for people to start waking up around town.
Suggesting Greensboro is the new Gastonia is an understatement...I'd say that the Gate City has lost its relevance.
We have City Councilmen who in one breath bash bloggers...and in another breath, ask those same bloggers what needs to happen in the city to change things around?
The occasional spark of good news of new jobs and false reports is trumped by an economic crises that has been ongoing for 10 years. We have a City Manager that's clueless, a mayor that's uninspiring at best, an economic development staff who still thinks manufacturing will be our savior even as Raleigh and Charlotte (who seem to be weathering their economic storms a lot better than we are) continue to pass us by.
Lexington and Asheboro recently named among tops in the nation for poverty. Rockingham County's unemployment rate at a record 10%...could Guilford County be far behind?
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We know what the bad news is...but how can this area jump back? Bounce back? Recover? Become relevant again?
Greensboro's Bill Knight may have said it best when he told Roch Smith:I prefer to think Greensboro has a lot going for it that will be enhanced when a new slate of leadership steps forward and establishes a new direction for city policy making. This is an election year for City Council, and a wholesale change in its makeup will help bring forth much needed leadership, direction and decision making that has been sorely lacking for several terms.
Mr. Knight makes sense. The direction not only includes new leadership at the elected level, but on an administrative level...a new city manager, a new police chief, a new attitude by our economic development staff.
And from the latter, I have one word...diversify, diversify, diversify. Manufacturing, the long-time life-blood of this city, is no more. If we do not start diversifying our economy, the rut we've been stuck in for the past 10 years, will continue to grow. I continue to stand by my premise that you cannot sustain an economy on $9/hour service jobs while continue promoting this area.
And you cannot create a sustainable area with runaway development, slapping a CVS or a Walgreens on every corner.
And while green jobs are good, green jobs will not be our primary savior either.
We need professional job opportunities, among a diverse range of industries...communications, marketing, finance, engineering, etc. The HOT project (Heart of the Triad) is too little-too late. We do need to recognize our strengths, but work on retooling our weaknesses and rebuilding them into strengths. Do not send me another report, not another survey, do not invite me to another community meeting...just do it.
Quit talking about it and just do it.
This area swells every August with several thousands of college students. Just a small percentage of those students remain in this area after June...and after graduation. They will not remain here working $9/hour service jobs. Long-time residents like me, who work a nightly service job (despite having a college degree, skills and years of journeyman's experience), will not remain remain in this area if things do not change around.
Remember, our problems existed LONG BEFORE this past Summer. Here is our chance to write the wrongs and correct the problems. New leadership will do just that.
E.C. :)
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6 comments:
I know a lot of young couples as I live in a relatively young community. And of them most are two earner families, and of that group most also have at least one with a part time job on the side just to make ends meet.
In addition, in the four years I have lived here three of those couples have moved out of my building (11 buildings in the complex) to other cities and better jobs. BB
Good post Huey. The funny thing is that everyone had high hopes for the current Council when they came in last just over a year ago. They have been quite bad and have failed to push us through some of the most critical matters.
Knight is right. We need to try again with the leadership and hope for the best. We also HAVE to get rid of the City Manager.
One could argue that you are the one lacking relevance. After all, this post does nothing more than restate someone else's point of view, with a lot more words than are even necessary.
In an attempt not to ramble, I will make two points and hopefully you will take the necessary measures to do more accurate "editing:"
1. HOT isn't about creating jobs, at least not directly. Its an effort to ensure that growth around the airport is deliberate and controlled. After all, if there is no plan in action, more of that rampant growth you were railing against will continue in this large undeveloped area.
2. Instead of telling others to quit talking about it, why don't you consider quit talking about other people quitting talking and doing it and just do it yourself.
You announced you're not running for city council. But a great many of the issues you mentioned could certainly benefit from involvement by non-elected residents.
I'm irrelevant? Is this Zack Matheny? Hi Zack...
Sir (or M'am)...these are MY points of view...and I appreciate and value my right to express it. I'm sorry that my points of view parallel closely with others in the local blogosphere who see and think similarly.
You see, many of us here care...and care deeply about how this city is run. It's just sad that a few politicians have hijacked their elected responsibilities for personal and political gain. These politicians continue to give Greensboro and Guilford County a very bad name.
If it were up to me, yes, I would do it. But I work...I work two jobs, sometimes a third job; one of them is a service job at night making $9/hour. Yes, your humble host, your former school board candidate, yours truly who was thinking about running for city council...is a proud member of Greensboro's ever-growing local working poor.
That would have made me just a working joe on an elected board...gee, I'm not a lawyer, not a banker, not a developer, not a realtor, not a business-owner...just a normal blue-collar working guy who cares about this town just like you.
I'm not looking for pity or sympathy. I work these jobs to make ends meet, to help feed my family of three, to do what's necessary to give my daughter the very best. And the only reason I haven't left this area yet (like a lot of others in my peer group locally) is because of immediate family. I left in late 2001 right after a 9/11-related layoff at a local publisher. But I came back.
I work multiple jobs because this area has failed to provide us 20-somethings/30-somethings with enough professional job opportunities to make this local economy sustainable and viable. I'm a writer, a former journalist, and I've done PR in the past...those jobs don't exist in this area anymore.
Our crackpot economic development staff continues to worship manufacturing, and refuses to do what's necessary to help diversify this economy.
I would love to get involved more...but working three jobs and taking care of a family...there's just very little time. It is one primary reason why I decided against running for City Council...with the responsibilities I have to my family right now, the citizens deserve someone full-time, not part-time. I made the noble decision NOT to run.
You have a lot to say and a lot of criticisms to lob as someone who signs as "anonymous."
I apologize if my comments were received in a demeaning or degrading manner. That is certainly not how I intended to come across.
There were parts of your original post which I found perplexing. However, I did not feel like expending the energy or time responding to them. I will do so now to better clarify my point of view.
For example, your post is about Greensboro's relevance, but you cite employment figures for surrounding counties and somehow attempt to equate that to Greensboro. Lexington and Asheboro are not Greensboro, and neither is Rockingham County. While these areas may comprise the greater Triad area, they do not comprise Greensboro. If your goal was to discuss the Triad's relevance, then your title was misleading.
Secondly, citing areas like raleigh and Charlotte should be taken with a grain of salt. Using your methodology of equating county employment figures to municipalities, Mecklenburg county currently has an unemployment rate of 9.4%, higher than Guilford county. Not exactly the shiny example Greensboro should aspire to be.
On the topic of diversity in the local economy, Greensboro's economy is arguably more diverse than both Raleigh, and Charlotte. Raleigh, being heavily invested in technology and Charlotte being tied to the financial services industry.
Next, I don't know why you continue to rail against manufacturing, and I believe in future posts, you should differentiate between the low skilled manufacturing of Greensboro's past and the more advanced, high tech manufacturing the city is now attempting to attract. No city can thrive without a good manufacturing base. And to think otherwise is to ignore reality.
I think its perfectly acceptable to recognize that our city faces challenges. But when you rail against the city leadership, you should at least give credit where credit is due. I'm sure city leaders don't sit around thinking of new ways to foil Greensboro's future. Arguably, the number of economic incentives the city has given out over the last two years alone shows that city leaders are working to improve greensboro's employment outlook.
You are entitled to your opinion. And I respect diverging viewpoints. But please present both sides of the coin and stop foreshadowing the collapse of Greensboro. Because talk of doom and gloom will do nothing to attract the jobs and residents Greensboro needs.
Just saw you get appointed to the planning board....you may not be running for council now, but looks like you may be in the future. This is what you have to do to play the game. Way to put yourself in a position for a council run.....taking a play from Zack's book. Look forward to seeing you on council in a few.
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