Jones Lang LaSalle
Why Newark matters
Sunday, April 16, 2006
BY BRAD PARKS
Star-Ledger Staff
You care about the new mayor of Newark if you're one of the 280,451 people who live there, 111,076 people who commute there or 36,281 people who attend college there.
You care if you're one of the 507,300 people who went to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 312,855 people who went to the Newark Museum or 178,818 people who went to a Newark Bears game last year.
But even if you don't live there, work there or visit there, what happens in Newark on May 9, when New Jersey's largest city will elect its first new mayor in two decades, is something you should still care about deeply.
"If you're economically rational at all, yes, you should care," said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School for Public Planning and Policy at Rutgers University. "Newark is an underutilized economic asset and that has consequences for people in New Jersey whether they go there or not."
Because whether you're talking about economics, politics or culture, the people who know New Jersey know this: Newark matters.
And whether voters select well-financed favorite Cory Booker or politically seasoned underdog Ronald L. Rice, the city's next mayor matters, too.
"What's good for Newark is good for New Jersey," former Gov. Tom Kean said. "History has proven we ignore Newark at our peril."
Newark political power broker Steve Adubato is, not surprisingly, a little more blunt:
"If you don't care about Newark, you're brain-damaged," Adubato said. "People sitting in their suburbs who think what happens in Newark doesn't effect them are idiots. Even if you're totally selfish, even if you're not socially conscious at all, even if you're just practical, you should still be concerned with what happens in Newark."
Why should you care? Because for every public dollar spent in Newark, 81 cents comes from outside the city.
That's according to a Star-Ledger analysis of the 2005-06 Newark school budget, the 2006 Newark municipal budget, the 2005 Essex County tax rolls and the 2004 Consolidated Federal Funds report.
In the school budget, for example, only $86 million of the $927 million total comes from local sources; the balance comes from state aid.
In the $696 million municipal budget, 40 percent of the revenue comes from outside the city; the rest comes from state and federal sources.
Essex County is a little trickier, because the county doesn't break down Newark versus non-Newark expenditures in its budget. But it does break down where the money comes from. And Newark, which has 35.2 percent of the population in Essex County, contributes 17.6 percent of the taxes. Livingston and Millburn, which comprise 6 percent of the population, contribute 18.9 percent.
Then there's federal aid. According to the 2004 Consolidated Federal Funds report, Newark receives more than $1.1 billion from 182 different federal sources -- including $288 million for housing and community development and $527 million from the Federal Transit Administration.
Point is, you should care who the next mayor is because, even if you don't live in, work in or visit Newark, you're still picking up a large chunk of the tab for the city.
You should also care because the business community cares.
"Businesses move all the time, but they want to relocate in an area that is stable, has no corruption and has a business-friendly environment," said Joseph Marbach, chair of the political science department at Seton Hall University. "A new mayor can make it clear that, in the most positive sense, Newark is open for business."
When it comes to luring new corporate citizens, no one matters more than the mayor. He's the face of the city, its chief executive officer, and he's the first person other CEOs want to meet when they're thinking about changing addresses.
"In many cases, business decisions are made on a personal level -- not on a rational or economic level. That's why so much business is done on the golf course," Hughes said. "If the new mayor has relationships in corporate America, that can only help."
And if corporate America starts putting Newark on its map, you can believe that the 81-cents-on-the-dollar number would change. So would the region's entire economic profile.
"An effectively run Newark could be an incredible engine for economic development in the region," Marbach said. "When you talk about the jobs that could be generated, it would be something that would help not only people in Newark, but people in Millburn and Morristown and all over the area."
Conversely, what's bad for Newark hurts the region.
Geographers talk about the phenomenon of the "sluburb" -- the former suburb that has been overtaken by ills of city slums -- and New Jersey has had its share. It's easy to forget that Irvington, which today has among the highest rates of violent crime in New Jersey, was considered suburban a generation ago.
"Look at Irvington, look at Belleville, look at Bloomfield," Adubato said. "If we ignore the problems of the city, they will spread. It's like ignoring cancer -- it spreads, and it will kill us."
But just as social problems can spread from the core of a city, so can a resurgence.
How citizens feel about their city is important. Just ask the man who once reminded New Jerseyans how perfect they were together -- "Before a city or a state can come back all the way, you've got to re-establish the pride of its people," Kean said. "I think right now, people who are still hesitant to jump into Newark will be less hesitant if the new mayor can generate a good buzz. There's nothing much stopping Newark right now except confidence. And a lot of that is perception."
That's where a mayor comes in. When Bret Schundler got his face on the cover of Time Magazine in 1994, it helped propel Jersey City's boom.
Having the next mayor of Newark in the national spotlight -- as everyone seems to think he will be -- could only help.
"Jersey City had a great surge forward. Hoboken had a great surge forward. I think it's Newark's time," said New Jersey Performing Arts Center President Lawrence P. Goldman. "The seeds have been planted and we're going to see a beautiful urban garden flowering in Newark."
Brad Parks is a staff writer for The Star-Ledger.
© 2006 The Star Ledger
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Why Newark matters
Sunday, April 16, 2006
BY BRAD PARKS
Star-Ledger Staff
You care about the new mayor of Newark if you're one of the 280,451 people who live there, 111,076 people who commute there or 36,281 people who attend college there.
You care if you're one of the 507,300 people who went to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 312,855 people who went to the Newark Museum or 178,818 people who went to a Newark Bears game last year.
But even if you don't live there, work there or visit there, what happens in Newark on May 9, when New Jersey's largest city will elect its first new mayor in two decades, is something you should still care about deeply.
"If you're economically rational at all, yes, you should care," said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School for Public Planning and Policy at Rutgers University. "Newark is an underutilized economic asset and that has consequences for people in New Jersey whether they go there or not."
Because whether you're talking about economics, politics or culture, the people who know New Jersey know this: Newark matters.
And whether voters select well-financed favorite Cory Booker or politically seasoned underdog Ronald L. Rice, the city's next mayor matters, too.
"What's good for Newark is good for New Jersey," former Gov. Tom Kean said. "History has proven we ignore Newark at our peril."
Newark political power broker Steve Adubato is, not surprisingly, a little more blunt:
"If you don't care about Newark, you're brain-damaged," Adubato said. "People sitting in their suburbs who think what happens in Newark doesn't effect them are idiots. Even if you're totally selfish, even if you're not socially conscious at all, even if you're just practical, you should still be concerned with what happens in Newark."
Why should you care? Because for every public dollar spent in Newark, 81 cents comes from outside the city.
That's according to a Star-Ledger analysis of the 2005-06 Newark school budget, the 2006 Newark municipal budget, the 2005 Essex County tax rolls and the 2004 Consolidated Federal Funds report.
In the school budget, for example, only $86 million of the $927 million total comes from local sources; the balance comes from state aid.
In the $696 million municipal budget, 40 percent of the revenue comes from outside the city; the rest comes from state and federal sources.
Essex County is a little trickier, because the county doesn't break down Newark versus non-Newark expenditures in its budget. But it does break down where the money comes from. And Newark, which has 35.2 percent of the population in Essex County, contributes 17.6 percent of the taxes. Livingston and Millburn, which comprise 6 percent of the population, contribute 18.9 percent.
Then there's federal aid. According to the 2004 Consolidated Federal Funds report, Newark receives more than $1.1 billion from 182 different federal sources -- including $288 million for housing and community development and $527 million from the Federal Transit Administration.
Point is, you should care who the next mayor is because, even if you don't live in, work in or visit Newark, you're still picking up a large chunk of the tab for the city.
You should also care because the business community cares.
"Businesses move all the time, but they want to relocate in an area that is stable, has no corruption and has a business-friendly environment," said Joseph Marbach, chair of the political science department at Seton Hall University. "A new mayor can make it clear that, in the most positive sense, Newark is open for business."
When it comes to luring new corporate citizens, no one matters more than the mayor. He's the face of the city, its chief executive officer, and he's the first person other CEOs want to meet when they're thinking about changing addresses.
"In many cases, business decisions are made on a personal level -- not on a rational or economic level. That's why so much business is done on the golf course," Hughes said. "If the new mayor has relationships in corporate America, that can only help."
And if corporate America starts putting Newark on its map, you can believe that the 81-cents-on-the-dollar number would change. So would the region's entire economic profile.
"An effectively run Newark could be an incredible engine for economic development in the region," Marbach said. "When you talk about the jobs that could be generated, it would be something that would help not only people in Newark, but people in Millburn and Morristown and all over the area."
Conversely, what's bad for Newark hurts the region.
Geographers talk about the phenomenon of the "sluburb" -- the former suburb that has been overtaken by ills of city slums -- and New Jersey has had its share. It's easy to forget that Irvington, which today has among the highest rates of violent crime in New Jersey, was considered suburban a generation ago.
"Look at Irvington, look at Belleville, look at Bloomfield," Adubato said. "If we ignore the problems of the city, they will spread. It's like ignoring cancer -- it spreads, and it will kill us."
But just as social problems can spread from the core of a city, so can a resurgence.
How citizens feel about their city is important. Just ask the man who once reminded New Jerseyans how perfect they were together -- "Before a city or a state can come back all the way, you've got to re-establish the pride of its people," Kean said. "I think right now, people who are still hesitant to jump into Newark will be less hesitant if the new mayor can generate a good buzz. There's nothing much stopping Newark right now except confidence. And a lot of that is perception."
That's where a mayor comes in. When Bret Schundler got his face on the cover of Time Magazine in 1994, it helped propel Jersey City's boom.
Having the next mayor of Newark in the national spotlight -- as everyone seems to think he will be -- could only help.
"Jersey City had a great surge forward. Hoboken had a great surge forward. I think it's Newark's time," said New Jersey Performing Arts Center President Lawrence P. Goldman. "The seeds have been planted and we're going to see a beautiful urban garden flowering in Newark."
Brad Parks is a staff writer for The Star-Ledger.
© 2006 The Star Ledger
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 1:51 PM
<< Home