Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412200008
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES T. RHODES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The experience of other cities around the nation has shown that public and private coalitions like the Urban Partnership do work - if self-interest and turf wars can be overcome in the interest of the greater good.
Several factors contribute to making our cities the centers of culture, commerce and government in the commonwealth. Unfortunately, there is another side to the story - one that reveals a troubling degree of distress in our urban areas.
According to a report issued earlier this year by the Virginia Commission on Local Governance, Virginia is witnessing the steady deterioration of many of its cities and towns. It concluded that the problems currently faced by our older urban areas will inevitably migrate to the surrounding counties and rural areas, affecting the economic health of the entire region.
On virtually every socioeconomic front, the study showed that disparities between our cities and suburbs widened over the course of the past decade.
Population growth in the suburbs and counties outstripped the cities by a substantial margin during the '80s. Fully two-thirds of the state's job growth occurred in the counties. Counties gained 34,000 manufacturing positions, while the cities lost 21,000 during the decade. Higher tax rates, lease rates and land costs in the cities than in the counties clearly played a role.
In addition, following the population shift to the counties, commerce there rose substantially - a fact confirmed by the erosion of taxable sales in the cities, and an accompanying increase in the counties.
These and other changes in the demographic and commercial aspects of municipal life have had a significant impact on incomes, housing and the social concerns of our cities.
Other recent studies reveal a growing disparity between our cities and suburbs in the number of families in poverty, the crime rate, teen-age pregnancies and infant mortality, to name a few.
These various social trends have made a notable contribution to the fiscal strain on our urban areas. Municipalities have had to spend more resources just to maintain government services, while coping with declining tax bases at the same time. This situation could worsen if Congress decides to cut aid programs further, forcing cities to absorb additional costs.
A declining urban core will affect the suburban communities that surround it. When suburbs turn their backs on their core cities, or when cities fail to cooperate with their suburbs, they do great harm to their own prosperity.
Syndicated columnist Neil Peirce, in his book ``Citistates: How Urban America Can Prosper in a Competitive World,'' argues convincingly that our national economy is really a constellation of regional economies, each having a major city at its core. In today's world, Peirce points out, every city needs a clear understanding of where it stands vis a vis its global competitors, not just its regional or even national competitors.
From this perspective, Richmond, Roanoke and Norfolk should be keeping a close eye not only on the Charlottes and Atlantas, but also on the Berlins and Barcelonas of the world.
Seen from this larger context, economic development becomes a question of identifying and nurturing our cities' special qualities in the new global economic order. And local government efficiency becomes an issue of global competitiveness - whether we're talking about the infrastructure, the environment or human services.
Our challenge is to forge a new identity for our cities, based not on their old political boundaries, but on their true identities as centers of regional economies functioning in a global marketplace.
What are we in Virginia doing to prepare our cities - and their surrounding regions - to compete with other world-class places for jobs, new investment and quality of life?
Our most pressing need is to think and act more strategically and regionally. There are several examples in Virginia of what strategic thinking, regional cooperation and resource sharing can achieve. Across the commonwealth, we must begin to think differently about how we govern; about how we manage growth; about how we prioritize and invest scarce resources.
We must adopt a broader perspective and reach for a bigger idea, a vision of our cities that's large enough to bring together all parties across old political, geographic and philosophical barriers.
From a regional business perspective, we must do a better job of training our workers, linking our high schools and community colleges, and providing technical education that transcends political boundaries.
We also must look at the way human services are delivered. Is it cost-effective to provide them on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis; or can we find new incentives to help our regions fight poverty and crime in unison?
If we must accept the premise that regional prosperity can be achieved only through a commitment to identifying key problems and working on them as partners, then we will begin the long journey toward reversing the decline of our cities ... and create solutions that play to their strengths and unique traditions. Only then will we be able to bring new vitality and energy to all areas of the commonwealth.
James T. Rhodes of Richmond is president and chief executive officer of Virginia Power Co.
by CNB