Madmallard
.223 Rem
No governor of a state with a shrinking population has ever been elected president.
That's something Gov. Andrew Cuomo might want to consider as he plans his run for president. Why would the country want to be more like New York when so many New Yorkers are fleeing to other parts of the country?
The state's recent population decline was slight — 1,900 people from mid-2015 to mid-2016, according to newly released census numbers.
But we all know that real deterioration is happening across broad swaths of upstate New York, where the decline would be staggering if we hadn't grown so used to it.
Since 2010, the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton and Glens Falls metro areas have all lost population. The Capital Region is an outlier, thankfully, growing by 1.3 percent over the period.
Some rural areas are in free fall. The population of Delaware County is down 5.1 percent just since 2010. In Hamilton County, it's 6.2 percent.
Brutal. There's no better way to describe it.
Other states would declare such outflows a crisis, with screamed demands to reverse the trend. In New York, a Legislature dominated by downstate politicians just yawns.
Where's Binghamton again?
The population drop is partially about the traditional migration of retirees to warmer places. But economic stagnation is a much bigger reason. There aren't enough good jobs to make upstate a place rational families will choose.
Reporting by the Investigative Post in Buffalo lays it out beautifully — except the numbers are hideous.
Since Cuomo took office in 2011, the number of upstate jobs has grown by 2.7 percent compared to the national average of 11 percent.
Remember the context. Those are years after the Great Recession, when the country was clawing back jobs lost during the crash. So while 2.7 percent is dreadful for any six-year period, it is especially atrocious for those particular six years.
In fact, the Investigative Post says only three states had slower rates of growth than upstate New York. Even Mississippi performed better.
Mississippi!
That's why the idea of a Cuomo presidential candidacy is so laughable. There's not enough lipstick in the world to hide the ugliness of his economic record. Competitors will beat him over the head with those job numbers. The attack ads will be devastating.
OK, upstate's continuing decline started before Cuomo's time in office, and, unlike the Legislature, the governor at least seems to care about upstate's economy — if only for his own political future.
The hitch, though, is that Cuomo's answer has been to throw money at the problem with corporate handouts and tax breaks.
Oh, and casinos. I almost forgot casinos. They'll fix everything!
The real reasons for upstate's economic struggles — smothering tax and business climates — are no secret, and Cuomo has done too little to address either. It's easier to keep dropping billions on Buffalo, even when there's so little to show for the spending.
So the tragedy of upstate decline continues. Where's the outrage? We're numb.
I'd love to find a reason for optimism, but I don't see one, partly because the demise of upstate is not a worry for the big-city Democrats who control the Assembly. Fixing upstate's economy isn't on the radar, because they simply Do. Not. Care.
The poor matter when they live in the Bronx or Brooklyn. The 50 percent of children living in poverty in Syracuse? Not so much.
Where's Syracuse again?
Downstate politicians could seemingly afford the indifference. Their part of the state has been booming, with job growth in New York City outpacing the national average.
But census numbers may show cracks in the facade. If you exclude immigration from foreign countries, the populations of most downstate counties, including all five New York City boroughs, have also declined since 2010.
Brooklyn is supposedly the cool place where every millennial wants to be, and its population has grown by about 5 percent overall since 2010. But its population drops slightly when international immigration isn't counted because 170,000 more people left Brooklyn than moved in from elsewhere in the country. (The nation's hipster population might be smaller than we assumed.)
Statewide, the domestic out-migration number is 847,000. That's a scary stat for any New Yorker concerned about the state's future. For a certain somebody eyeing a run for president, it should be terrifying.
Why would Americans vote for Andrew Cuomo when so many New Yorkers are voting with their feet?
Churchill: Under Cuomo, upstate's painful decline goes on
That's something Gov. Andrew Cuomo might want to consider as he plans his run for president. Why would the country want to be more like New York when so many New Yorkers are fleeing to other parts of the country?
The state's recent population decline was slight — 1,900 people from mid-2015 to mid-2016, according to newly released census numbers.
But we all know that real deterioration is happening across broad swaths of upstate New York, where the decline would be staggering if we hadn't grown so used to it.
Since 2010, the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton and Glens Falls metro areas have all lost population. The Capital Region is an outlier, thankfully, growing by 1.3 percent over the period.
Some rural areas are in free fall. The population of Delaware County is down 5.1 percent just since 2010. In Hamilton County, it's 6.2 percent.
Brutal. There's no better way to describe it.
Other states would declare such outflows a crisis, with screamed demands to reverse the trend. In New York, a Legislature dominated by downstate politicians just yawns.
Where's Binghamton again?
The population drop is partially about the traditional migration of retirees to warmer places. But economic stagnation is a much bigger reason. There aren't enough good jobs to make upstate a place rational families will choose.
Reporting by the Investigative Post in Buffalo lays it out beautifully — except the numbers are hideous.
Since Cuomo took office in 2011, the number of upstate jobs has grown by 2.7 percent compared to the national average of 11 percent.
Remember the context. Those are years after the Great Recession, when the country was clawing back jobs lost during the crash. So while 2.7 percent is dreadful for any six-year period, it is especially atrocious for those particular six years.
In fact, the Investigative Post says only three states had slower rates of growth than upstate New York. Even Mississippi performed better.
Mississippi!
That's why the idea of a Cuomo presidential candidacy is so laughable. There's not enough lipstick in the world to hide the ugliness of his economic record. Competitors will beat him over the head with those job numbers. The attack ads will be devastating.
OK, upstate's continuing decline started before Cuomo's time in office, and, unlike the Legislature, the governor at least seems to care about upstate's economy — if only for his own political future.
The hitch, though, is that Cuomo's answer has been to throw money at the problem with corporate handouts and tax breaks.
Oh, and casinos. I almost forgot casinos. They'll fix everything!
The real reasons for upstate's economic struggles — smothering tax and business climates — are no secret, and Cuomo has done too little to address either. It's easier to keep dropping billions on Buffalo, even when there's so little to show for the spending.
So the tragedy of upstate decline continues. Where's the outrage? We're numb.
I'd love to find a reason for optimism, but I don't see one, partly because the demise of upstate is not a worry for the big-city Democrats who control the Assembly. Fixing upstate's economy isn't on the radar, because they simply Do. Not. Care.
The poor matter when they live in the Bronx or Brooklyn. The 50 percent of children living in poverty in Syracuse? Not so much.
Where's Syracuse again?
Downstate politicians could seemingly afford the indifference. Their part of the state has been booming, with job growth in New York City outpacing the national average.
But census numbers may show cracks in the facade. If you exclude immigration from foreign countries, the populations of most downstate counties, including all five New York City boroughs, have also declined since 2010.
Brooklyn is supposedly the cool place where every millennial wants to be, and its population has grown by about 5 percent overall since 2010. But its population drops slightly when international immigration isn't counted because 170,000 more people left Brooklyn than moved in from elsewhere in the country. (The nation's hipster population might be smaller than we assumed.)
Statewide, the domestic out-migration number is 847,000. That's a scary stat for any New Yorker concerned about the state's future. For a certain somebody eyeing a run for president, it should be terrifying.
Why would Americans vote for Andrew Cuomo when so many New Yorkers are voting with their feet?
Churchill: Under Cuomo, upstate's painful decline goes on
