In countless cities and towns in America, former industrial municipalities have turned to tourism and the arts to rejuvenate their communities. Almost all of these efforts have failed.
If you want to have a tourist destination, you need something truly special, such as the quaint town of Stockbridge or the excitement of Orlando, Fla. The trick is having the wisdom not to go on the fool's errand to try to make Pittsfield a Stockbridge, or try to make a Flint, Mich. or North Adams into an Orlando.
An economy of a major industrialized country can only have so many places that do not revolve around mining (and other forms of removing materials from the earth), manufacturing, construction and food production.
If you really think about it, what do you spend most of your money on? The point of all this is that turning former industrial cities into cultural destinations is usually an untenable idea because there is not enough of a market.
Pittsfield and North Adams have sustained record population losses over the last half-decade by relying on cultural tourism. Making matters worse, poorer and less educated classes have displaced what once was a solid, highly educated, middle class community.
How does one get industry, high tech and other high-paying white-collar jobs to come to Pittsfield and North Adams? Government does not create wealth for the most part. Government usually gets in the way of wealth and job creation by doing one of two things --
One of the biggest incentives for companies to move here is by the simple act of getting government to get less in the way of profits. This means taxing less (or not at all) and reducing and expediting government regulations.
There should be one-stop shopping for permits at the municipal level instead of going to various municipal agencies, as well as a limit on the days necessary to get the permitting. It is dull stuff to the average person but everything to the business person.
Unfortunately, there are many in Pittsfield and North Adams who would regard tax incentives, less regulation and stream-lined regulation in an effort to be competitive as a "race to the bottom." And for decades, certainly during the Ruberto and Barrett administrations, we have not relied enough on lowering taxes and decreasing regulation on those corporations that have high-wage jobs and could locate themselves anywhere.
What I am proposing is actively discriminating in our tax rates between companies that offer high-wage jobs and could locate anywhere, and other companies (such as fast food operations) that have to be in Pittsfield or North Adams should they want to exploit its markets -- as well as improving the regulatory process.
More fundamentally, I am looking for Pittsfield and North Adams to realize that most corporations do not come to an area based upon cultural amenities such as theaters, arts, ballparks or other recreational opportunities. Rather, tax incentives, regulatory burdens, quality and cost of the work force and infrastructure continue to be the most important factors in site location.
As for the quality of living afforded to its employees, a corporation is infinitely more likely to consider the cost/quality of housing, as well as the quality of its schools and crime.
Instead, we focus on cultural amenities, the very thing that matters least to corporations, and delude ourselves into thinking that corporations will move here because of a revitalized downtown while we remain otherwise uncompetitive.
Think I am wrong? I highly recommend reviewing the 22nd annual Corporate Survey Site Selection Factors at www.areadevelop
ment.com. While cultural amenities and downtown development cannot be said to have no importance, it can be safely said that they have low importance. And, unlike tax incentives and decreasing regulation, there is a chicken and egg problem. In order to keep the downtown theaters and restaurants going, you need the disposable income of those high-paying jobs that are not there yet.
Pittsfield and North Adams cultural institutions have not created many jobs, and for the most part the jobs that they have created pay lower wages, have poor benefits and are seasonal. (Yes, I am aware of the studies by Professor Sheppard of Williams College and find them problematic, a subject of another article.)
If you stop and think about it, Northampton and Great Barrington have downtowns that are teeming with arts and are incredible places to work and live. Northampton even benefits from a local state university. But corporations are not flocking there. Why?
Rinaldo Del Gallo III is a Pittsfield attorney, freelance columnist and occasional Transcript contributor.
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