New York Chica has an interesting post about the Top Ten Recession-Proof Cities. The list is interesting and not surprising (Texas, Utah, and North Carolina made the list). She summed up the sentiments of New Yorkers when she said she didn’t expect any NY city to make the list. The only Top Ten lists New York is making are the ones with highest taxation, lowest wages, and most poor. Worst education is coming onto the list, as well. Those recession-proof cities in TX, UT, and NC are because NYers are fleeing the state in droves and migrating to those states.
I live in Upstate New York– right smack-dab in the middle of the state. The rest of the country has been reeling with recession-style tremors, but here in NYS, we’ve been living this way for about 30 years now. Our troubles all started when the state changed some language in the state constitution to favor Downstate (New York City area). New York City has seen a huge boom in the last 20-25 years. However, it has been Upstate’s natural resources and jobs pool that has fueled the economy down there. So essentially, the NYS government has slit its own throat. The “good times” can only last so long because sooner or later, the leech runs dry. And that’s Upstate right now… pretty dry.
New York State loves to tout itself as the “Empire State,” claiming that this state is the trend-setter for the rest of the states. Well, maybe 200 years ago that was something we could brag about, but since the 1880s, the state is leading the nation as an example of how NOT to govern. Let’s hope the other states learn from NY’s idiotic mistakes. Don’t let labor unions and politicians micro-manage the affairs of the people; don’t accept high taxation as a way to become prosperous and assume political “clout”; don’t add taxes upon taxes upon taxes and call them “fees” and “surcharges,” hoping no one will notice; don’t brag about how unsinkable you are when everyone knows it’s just a matter of rearranging the deck chairs.
Unfortunately, however, for those southern and midwestern states is that they lack the natural resources to support large populations. Drought conditions and the home foreclosure crisis brought this to the forefront. Northeasterners who have migrated south and west complain of the lack of green grass, trees, and abundant water. Duh.
It’s like I always say, here in NY, we don’t have calamitous natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods. Our natural disasters come in the form of politicians. I sometimes wonder that politicians are worse than weather disasters…. but no matter where you live, there will always be some price to pay. We’ll see how the nation fares, because we are seeing a monumental change in our American way of life.
