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Totally agree. Everyone that I know that is young & educated is hitting the road. Public employees are too highly compensated and it is starting to have a major effect on property values. The middle class is being hallowed out and there is a major influx of lower income and recent immigrants.
Location: Prince Georges County, MD (formerly Long Island, NY)
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I don't think it'll be the next Detroit. I can possibly see it being like Manhattan, where you're either rich or poor-- with the middle class shrinking. To be honest, it's already happening-- as that thread we recently had shows (the OP makes $50k, and wants to buy a house).
It's true that people are leaving-- you have young people leaving in droves, not to mention tons of families leaving. However, you're still going to have people from NYC who want to move out to Long Island and commute to their jobs. I routinely talk with people in the city, and when I mention that I'm from Long Island, I usually get a response to the effect of, "Oh, cool! I want to move there in a few years" either when they have kids, or because they want peace and quiet with NYC proximity.
I really want to see Long Island win, though. I seriously hate to bring up North Carolina in a thread like this (please don't shoot me), but my limited understanding of Charlotte is that the runaway growth of Charlotte's CBD and banking powerhouse was sparked by Bank of America headquartering there. If Long Island could court a major company to set up shop here, and encourage other businesses to come here, we'd have more tax revenue to relieve residents.
Affordable housing is needed. Maybe mixed income developments like NYC has to encourage young Long Islanders to live and work on the island.
In short, I don't see Long Island becoming the next Detroit. Detroit took a huge blow with the loss of automotive jobs, which was a vital industry to the city. LI's proximity to NYC provides access (if not inconvenient) to many sectors.
I don't think it'll be the next Detroit. I can possibly see it being like Manhattan, where you're either rich or poor-- with the middle class shrinking. To be honest, it's already happening-- as that thread we recently had shows (the OP makes $50k, and wants to buy a house).
It's true that people are leaving-- you have young people leaving in droves, not to mention tons of families leaving. However, you're still going to have people from NYC who want to move out to Long Island and commute to their jobs. I routinely talk with people in the city, and when I mention that I'm from Long Island, I usually get a response to the effect of, "Oh, cool! I want to move there in a few years" either when they have kids, or because they want peace and quiet with NYC proximity.
I really want to see Long Island win, though. I seriously hate to bring up North Carolina in a thread like this (please don't shoot me), but my limited understanding of Charlotte is that the runaway growth of Charlotte's CBD and banking powerhouse was sparked by Bank of America headquartering there. If Long Island could court a major company to set up shop here, and encourage other businesses to come here, we'd have more tax revenue to relieve residents.
Affordable housing is needed. Maybe mixed income developments like NYC has to encourage young Long Islanders to live and work on the island.
In short, I don't see Long Island becoming the next Detroit. Detroit took a huge blow with the loss of automotive jobs, which was a vital industry to the city. LI's proximity to NYC provides access (if not inconvenient) to many sectors.
Great post. LI is a suburb of a major city, not a major city (Detroit) that lost its manufacturing base and its one major employer. Detroit has no NYC to fall back on. In addition although young people leaving LI is certainly a major concern here it is no where NEAR the population loss of Detroit in the last 10 years, and the decades before that. As a matter of fact LI's population has actually (very slightly) grown.
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