Houston, Bob. "Jamestown Ranked 4th Among Small NYS Cities." The Post-Journal 13 April 1990.
Jamestown Ranked 4th Among Small NYS Cities
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By Bob Houston Economics. Education.
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Sophistication. "The perfect small city would have citizens who are highly educated, well - informed on important issues and willing to get involved when necessary," Thomas said. Voter turnout, newspaper readership and the number of television and radio stations available to residents were among the five categories giving Jamestown a total of 37 points. Health Care. Housing. Public Safety. Transportation. Urban Proximity. |
Willett, Heather. "Cities Face Similar Situations." The Sunday Post-Journal 2 April 1995.
Most Try To Rebound After Hard Times
By Heather Willett
| Losing residents, being called
poor, and being neglected might give any city a negative self image. And
some think it has for Jamestown. But the problems can be remedied. Other cities around the state, such as Auburn, report making a comeback from similar problems. Mayor Richard A. Kimball Jr. said he thinks Jamestown's economy is also gradually improving. "I have a sense that things are happening in a positive way. Businesses in general are expanding and adding employees. We're starting to pull ourselves out of a recession," he said. He said a key factor in Jamestown's improvement is how it sees itself. "We need a more positive attitude. We've often been our own worst enemies here in Jamestown, and we need to think positively about ourselves. The more we believe in ourselves, the better," he said. Daniel C. Sitler is a principal with The Saratoga Associates, a firm of architects, engineers and planners hired to develop a master plan for the city. "The first thing Jamestown has going for it is leadership that wants to improve the situation," Sitler said. "That's got to be in place first and Jamestown has that." "I see evidence that the public and private sectors are increasingly working together," he said. "That's where Jamestown has an advantage over other areas that have a 'we-they' attitude." The 1990 census shows that 18.7 percent of the population in Jamestown was living below the poverty rate - an increase from the 1980 level of 13.6 percent and the 1970 level of 12 percent. Jamestown's poverty rate is about average compared to other communities of similar size in the state. In 1990, the census showed Elmira, 22.2 percent poverty rate, Auburn with 18.8 percent, Watertown with 16.8 percent and Olean with 16.8 percent. Kelli Brate, Elmira's housing development coordinator, described the housing situation in Elmira as similar to Jamestown's - with many older homes converted to multi-unit rental properties. "It's economically depressed,'' she said of the city. "Large businesses left so there were fewer jobs and people left. Our goal is to make it more attractive for larger businesses to come here by having the Economic Development Zone." Michael Morse is Elmira's economic development specialist and EDZ coordinator. The zone was designated in 1988 and he said that since the 1990 census, Elmira's poverty rate has likely dropped. "We've had a lot of job growth in the last five years. Although a lot of the job creation has been for $6-an-hour jobs," Morse noted. He said the zone has played a large part, but that most growth has been among existing businesses. Morse reported that of the 32 businesses certified last year for inclusion in the zone, 26 were existing businesses. "They've projected to invest over $104 million in capital improvements and will create over 640 jobs in the next two years," he added. Morse is optimistic about Elmira's economy turning around. "We've been getting better for a year and a half , and it's continuing to get better through this window of opportunity. And it's a window we intend to keep open," he said. Sitler cited Jamestown's EDZ as one of its key resources, along with the commercial zones downtown and on Washington Street, and the Chadakoin River. "The city has a wonderful resource that hasn't been fully used for a number of years, and that's the river," Sitler added. He said it has great potential as a catalyst for nearby housing and office development, parkland, or as a nature preserve similar to Tifft Nature Preserve in Buffalo. Making better use of the area near the boatlanding at the river, he said, would serve as a catalyst for the redevelopment of downtown. Sitler said his firm has worked on Greece, Auburn, Cheektowaga, and other areas going through an economic transformation |
like
Jamestown. Olean also hired the firm to come up with its master plan. Richard Sauer, director of community development for the city of Olean for the past 21 years, said the economy there is steady. "Olean, historically, hasn't had a recession or booming economy. It's more of a steady level: it's never booming, but then again, it's never that bad," he said. He said major retailers, like Kmart and Wal-Mart, are being built on the city's edge. The same thing has happened in Watertown, according to Ken Mix, planning and community development coordinator. "Retail has declined in the city and shifted to outside of the city. There's been a boom in retail growth on the outskirts," he said. He said Watertown's City Council approved a proposal this month by the city's Chamber of Commerce to come up with a plan to help improve the downtown area. Mix cited one possibility in improving the city's economy: the redevelopment of the Watertown Industrial Center - 400,000 square feet of empty industrial space. He said city development agencies would like to see it rehabilitated and marketed to other industries. Like Jamestown, Watertown also received an EDZ designation last year. "Watertown's economy is not the worst it could be but it's in a slow state compared to what it was in the late '80s" Mix said. "With the national recession supposedly ending, we're hoping things will improve in the late '90s." Sitler said the loss of economic investment leads to a loss of employment and wages. Jamestown's comprehensive plan, he said, will "focus on economic redevelopment to attract investment into the community." "Economic development is a matter of correct resources, public will, and quality of life," he said. "The comprehensive plan focuses on re-establishing a high quality of life in the community so that people want to invest and reside here." One suggestion he offered toward meeting that goal is to concentrate on revitalizing a core area, like downtown, and grow from there. Sitler said some recent pluses for downtown are the restoration at The Reg Lenna Civic Center and Paragon's ongoing renovation of a building on Second Street for its new office. Another suggestion he made was to "reinforce the integrity of neighbor- hoods." Sitler said neighborhoods should be properly zoned for single family or multi-unit dwellings and kept to their designated use. The city's intent to have commercial develop on an 11 - acre site on Washington Street, he noted, is important because it communicates to investors and developers that the city is interested in attracting development. He also said the value of Jamestown's housing stock is below the state average and so are its wages. The decline in the city's standard of living, he said, is the result of manufacturing companies leaving. "Jobs go with them and that translates into buying power." Sitler said. "Kids tend to leave after high school if they can't find jobs." He said part of the solution is education and skills training. "Success comes through public and private sector commitment to turn the community around - both have to work together," he said. The comprehensive plan should be finished later this month and submitted to City Council for review. Kimball agreed that Jamestown needs more jobs and higher paying jobs. "A lot of people aren't making $15 or $20 an hour. We have to focus on attracting more manufacturing jobs - those tend to be higher paying," he said. But he called it a slow, ongoing process. "We still have to keep working on it. And keeping jobs here is as much as if not more of a challenge as attracting new jobs," Kimball said. Samuel Teresi, the city's director of development, agreed. |
"There are too
many people in this community that are unemployed, underemployed, or are
trapped in a vicious poverty cycle and it is going to take private sector
job development to lead our way out of it," he said. Teresi pointed out that development is important in helping the city's senior citizens too. "There are seniors on fixed incomes that are struggling at or below the poverty level and trying to pay their taxes and make ends meet," he said. He said development increases the tax base of the community and thereby lessens the tax burden on the population, including senior citizens. According to Teresi, in order to make itself attractive to businesses, the city has to keep taxes low, provide tax incentives, keep government small and improve the human resources of the community. "If we do that, that's how we break the poverty cycle. Those things are all part of the package of an attractive community to offer businesses," he said. It's working in Auburn, according to Vijay Mital, the city's director of planning and economic development. "Our city has been sort of a leader in our state in terms of creating manufacturing jobs," he said. He attributed some of the city's success to its EDZ. Auburn received its designation in 1989. "We marketed that and met a lot of manufacturers and told them the benefits of doing business here, so people feel more comfortable that this is a good place to do business and that expanding Auburn is good," he said. He cited an industry that had intended to leave the city, McQuay International, which makes air conditioning units. Instead, he said, the company has doubled its number of employees to 700. Although he said the change has happened slowly and there's still work to be done, the employment rate is higher in Auburn than it was five years ago. He noted that in addition to the city's new stadium, to be completed June 2, a lot of money has been put into the downtown area. "We've shown the community we care," he added. Mital said the city's upswing has improved its quality of life and the human services it has to offer. As far as Jamestown's human resources, Teresi said all businesses have one common need: a capable, skilled work force. Making sure people have an education and job skills, he said, is a vital part of keeping businesses here and bringing new ones in. "In the past three decades Jamestown has been rocked by significant changes in the business world," Teresi said. He cited the loss of manufacturers like Art Metal Corp., Crescent Tool Corp and Proto Tool Co. as still having residual effects on the local economy. The loss of businesses, he said, caused people to lose jobs that not only paid well, but aren't easily replaced. But, he noted, "the local economy is continually scratching and clawing its way back." Companies like Jamestown Advanced Products Inc., Phoenix Metal Fabricating, and MRC Bearings, he said, are helping the economy by investing and expanding. "It's not all gloom and doom," he stressed. "There is definite progress being made in the ongoing war on poverty. Despite decades of body blows, this is one of the most resilient places that I know of and it continues to fight." He said in order to improve Jamestown's economy, leadership and investment must come from within. "There's going to be no knight in shining armor riding in to save this community. It has to be led by government and, even more, by private business development," he said.
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Jamestown Population: 34,681 Percent below poverty level : 18.7 Median Household Income: $20,582 |
Olean Population: 16,946 Percent below poverty level: 16.8 Median Household Income: $21,339 |
Elmira Population: 33,724 Percent below poverty level: 22.2 Median Household Income: $18,548 |
Auburn Population: 31,256 Percent below poverty level: 18.8 Median Household Income: $22,271 |
Watertown Population: 29,429 Percent below poverty level: 16.8 Median Household Income: $22,785 |
Photos of the cities of Jamestown, Olean and Elmira can be seen in the
original article on microfilm. They are not included in this article.
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10/31/2003
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