THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504140157
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
A person's definition of middle-class most often depends on personal circumstances, but income and values usually are the main components.
By anybody's reckoning, Portsmouth has a shrinking middle class. However, the diminishing numbers in Portsmouth seem less tied to national trends than to local problems.
As several speakers at Tuesday night's municipal-budget hearings in City Hall pointed out, the exodus from Portsmouth by the middle class most often is related to perceptions that crime is increasing and that public education is declining.
In addition, young middle-class families drawn to Portsmouth's small-town charm sometimes find that living here is less convenient than living in suburban communities. The lack of shopping areas aimed at the middle-class population is a problem for working people who frequently must shop on the run.
As Midtown Association President Mary Curran noted, residents want to do business where they live. They don't want to have to drive to another city to make simple purchases or buy routine services.
``Taxes are not the reason they're leaving,'' said Curran, who spoke in support of a tax increase. ``They want more business in the city. They want prosperity around them.''
Manor View resident Mary Nelson said ``a lot of middle-class people are considering an exodus from Portsmouth.''
``We work in the city and we're boaters,'' Nelson said. ``The reasons we're looking outside Portsmouth are the decline in control of crime and the decrease in schools quality. Plus services continue to decline.''
Interestingly, public opposition to the proposed 4-cents-per-$100 tax increase has been rather mild and scattered. People seem more concerned about services and quality of life.
City officials should be particularly concerned about the comments in lieu of opposition, however.
The officials, both elected and appointed, often react to small groups of citizens who scream the loudest, seemingly putting those individual concerns ahead of the greater needs of the total city. Knee-jerk reactions may seem like good politics but, in the long run, they frequently are detrimental even to the politicians.
Government by reaction is time-consuming and often takes away from efforts to solve the greater problems of the entire city.
A majority of citizens believe they do not have to plead for what should be the proper business of government - things like crime control, school improvement, economic development. They expect those matters to be first and foremost on the agenda for city officials and they seldom speak out. Instead, when the city fails to progress, they simply go away.
Portsmouth cannot afford to lose the solid middle-class income and values that have been the bedrock of Portsmouth and its illustrious history.
The city's leadership must find a way to keep those people in the city - and they must find it soon. by CNB