|
|
|
What Makes City "Livable"?
|
Business New Haven
8/19/2002
By: BNH
|
Most thoughtful observers of cities agree that having a strong center-city residential base is good. If those residents are middle- or upper-middle class folks with money to spend, even better.
New England's awkwardly sized (populations of 100,000 to 160,000) cities have a checkered record of attracting people of means to live in their downtowns. New Haven and Providence, R.I. probably get the best grades (we'll leave the region's only major city, Boston, out of this equation). Hartford, Bridgeport and Springfield, Mass. haven't figured it out yet. Worcester, Mass. falls somewhere in-between.
Officials in all these cities would like more residents in their downtowns, but government entities risk subverting the marketplace when they decide to deal themselves into the game by subsidizing, in one fashion or another, specific residential projects and in essence picking winners and losers among interested developers.
Developer David Nyberg's apparently successful development of the former Strouse, Adler factory into 146 upscale apartments (see story, page 13) is the exception that proves the rule. Strouse, Adler is the only major multi-unit downtown residential project to come online in many years - and may be for many years to come if private developers are forced to compete on a tilted playing field against others who, thanks to government largess, get tax breaks, or can buy buildings for next to nothing through some sort of government-sanctioned “deal.” Private developers are smart, and few willingly place themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
Take the residences at Ninth Square, which many people consider “successful” because they filled rapidly and have maintained high occupancy rates due to government subsidy. But if you build a $200,000 apartment and can lease it for a figure that would support a mortgage, depreciation, interest and improvements on only, say, an $80,000 apartment - why would one considered that a “successful” development?
The notion that government subsidies for residential development are necessary as “seed” money to attract additional private investment has it all wrong. More often than not, government financial participation keeps private dollars away from where cities need them the most.
|
Go FirstGo PreviousGo
NextGo LastGo
to Index
|
|
