Princeton: Unemployment projections for 2009?

[MisterTwisty]

Princeton's city planners might be offering some good tax advantages to developers, but in the last three years, no one's been biting.

Also, they've got a city-owned hospital and a city-owned electric company. Either of these can be money-makers or money-takers in a given year. Plus, there's a Metro Center/Gym that serves the whole county; it's part of the city's parks department. These things really add up on a middle class guy's property tax bill.

As far as "tax advantages" for residents, well...for its size, Princeton has a ton of costly infrastructure projects (internet fiber, tech, business and industrial park developments with no tenants, large park expansions with puffed-up bids). Check public records of city spending in the past 10 years. These things really gobble up taxpayer dollars.

To be fair, parts of Princeton do have well-maintained, pretty Victorian and Prairie-Style homes. But on the whole, the middle-class housing stock is chipping paint and crumbling porches. It is. That's because Princetonians who fix up their properties find they're suddenly getting sponged by property reassessments. For instance, An avearge 1,500 sq. foot residence can run upwards of $3,500 a year tax-wise.

Many simply leave the paint to chip - even if the exchange means the town looks sort of junky.

That's not to say I dislike Princeton; I think it's a neat place. It's a real throwback town. But it's got some misgivings. And some good-tasting steaks at one restaurant and cute clay pots/antiques around the corner aren't enough to wallpaper over the fact.