Philadelphia Metro Job Loss

[gwillyfromphilly]

Originally Posted by pman

Ac is no longer independent, the majority of people now commute into the philadelphia metro for work

With the recent closures of some AC casinos, that trend probably won't change for a long time. Even when their economies were more separated, Atlantic City always had a cultural connection to the Philly area.

[thedirtypirate]

Yea, AC falls into the Philadelphia area. However, I was talking about this with someone last night, and they made the observation that thousands of teachers, assistants, nurses, etc. had been laid off. I found an article from the New York Times that says 5,000 jobs in the last two years alone. With 31 schools closed, you can understand we took a hit. Should the schools probably have been restructured 15 years ago? I don't know but hopefully Tom Wolf delievers on helping the school district get back on its feet. I think it's time for the government to start spending again not on war but on roads, bridges, and schools. I don't mind paying a few cents more at the pump if it means we won't run out of salt in the dead of winter or a bridge won't collapse. It's already begun.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/15...referrer=&_r=0

Sorry for the mobile version.

[pman]

The district lost tens of thousands of students the answer is obviously yes, they needed to close schools and they still may need to close schools. Otoh I think it's likely this is bottom and some staff will return. Still, I will point out thay this is a philadelphia specific occurrence so you can hardly blame it on federal spending. The state has already addressed transportation. I noticed pittsburgh wasn't on that list.
Gill y - you're right. If i were ac I'd concentrate on making it easy to commute to philly so people could live at the beach and work at penn...get back to its roots as being a convenient beach party town for philadelphia

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by gwillyfromphilly

Actually it does and what happens in the Philly area affects the Jersey Shore as well. The casinos that were built in Southeastern PA and Delaware has a direct affect on the Atlantic City Casino economy. That's one of the main reasons why some of the casinos in Atlantic City closed down recently. Overall the Philadelphia-Trenton-Wilmington area needs to improve when it comes to job growth.

But, of course, there are three states involved. How much is Chris Christie going to talk to our new Democratic governor in PA, for example, about anything? If Christie jumps into the prez race for 2016 there will be even less cooperation because he won't care at all.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Yea, AC falls into the Philadelphia area. However, I was talking about this with someone last night, and they made the observation that thousands of teachers, assistants, nurses, etc. had been laid off. I found an article from the New York Times that says 5,000 jobs in the last two years alone. With 31 schools closed, you can understand we took a hit.

Yes but . . .

Most folks know the public schools are floundering in the city. But that is true of most large urban school districts. When I lived in booming Houston, the same problems existed: middle class folks would either move outside the Houston Independent School District or if they were wealthy enough, send their children to private schools. The answer for Philly is not to simply improve the educational quality in this city. After all, if we do makes strides and employ more and better-equiped teachers working in a environment conducive to learning, We will still be turning out educated students into a city that does not offer them jobs that come with a living wage.

The issue is complex. I am not being a Debbie-downer on the city - I am simply pointing out that this is a complex problem. If I knew the answer, I would try to get a seat on the school board. But if we examine other cities that are successful in building their job base, we might find some clues. While every city has its own unique characteristics, we might do well to investigate Boston, or perhaps even better - Chicago.

[pman]

Perhaps what is most interesting is that the city's job base actually grew which means that the losses must have been in the rest of the region. Clearly large numbers were in ac and wilmington but that doesn't account for all of them

[Duderino]

Here's a related article from the Bucks County Intelligencer today, positing that the Philly region's economy is poised to move further along in recovery/growth over the course of 2015:

Experts predict labor improvements in 2015

"We’re closing in on full employment nationally, and even in Bucks,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors in Northampton. “There’s not a lot of labor out there. There’s not a lot of labor across the nation. There’s not a lot of labor in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. In Bucks, it’s even more difficult. That sets the general environment in which the region and the county’s going to grow.”


Experts predict labor improvements in 2015 - The Intelligencer: Bucks County | Montgomery County | Local news | Breaking News | Sports | Entertainment | Opinion

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Yes but . . .

Most folks know the public schools are floundering in the city. But that is true of most large urban school districts. When I lived in booming Houston, the same problems existed: middle class folks would either move outside the Houston Independent School District or if they were wealthy enough, send their children to private schools. The answer for Philly is not to simply improve the educational quality in this city. After all, if we do makes strides and employ more and better-equiped teachers working in a environment conducing to learning, We will still be turning out educated students into a city that does not offer them jobs that come with a living wage.

The issue is complex. I am not being a Debbie-downer on the city - I am simply pointing out that this is a complex problem. If I knew the answer, I would try to get a seat on the school board. But if we examine other cities that are successful in building their job base, we might find some clues. While every city has its own unique characteristics, we might do well to investigate Boston, or perhaps even better - Chicago.

Absolutely you are right that if there was a clear answer, someone would probably have made a plan by now.

[Leon2014]

Another nuanced aspect to consider is that Philly area is a very old area with relatively little migration. There is a lot of old money, and as a result the overall economic picture can look better even with a worse income and employment picture than the average.

100 years ago Philly area was what south California is today. Influx of fresh blood, ambitious and educated. As a result booming employment and opportunity to make money. An old area will never have the same dynamics as an area that is still just building up. Philly is a senior citizen that is content with the way things are and doesn't want change in either direction.