The Forgotten New York
New York is one of the few states actually losing population, thanks in good part to people fleeing from upstate. One recent study found that the young adult population of upstate New York declined at nearly four times the national rate between 1990 and 2005. "If you are smart, ambitious, creative, and can produce, and are under 25, you get out of upstate New York as fast as you can," says Moss.
Spitzer has already announced plans to appoint an upstate development czar. He has also signaled a willingness to reform state worker's compensation and liability laws that businesses believe have fueled the flight of jobs south. Economists are also advocating a more focused use of state aid, which has been spent on a myriad of sometimes questionable projects. Case in point: Rochester's fast ferry to Toronto project, meant to revitalize the city, ended up costing it more than $10 million in less than a year. It was abandoned last month.
No one doubts Spitzer's task is daunting. Outgoing governor George Pataki, who is credited with bringing some high-tech jobs upstate, generally failed to gain much traction during his three terms. James Parrott, chief economist of the nonpartisan Fiscal Policy Institute, says that Spitzer has brought a "credible commitment" to fixing upstate, one that wasn't there before.
JoAnn Sifo, who opened up Chez Daisie CrÃÂÃÂÃÂêperie just off Schenectady's State Street early last year, is one of many upstate New Yorkers banking on that commitment to last. "Upstate has been neglected for so long it will take years to turn it around," she says. "We've been working for 10 years, and we only have a glimmer of hope." It will be Spitzer's job to give upstate trailblazers like Sifo something more.
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