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There is no way that Washington, DC (the city itself) is a center of technical or engineering innovation. No way. I would assume that Florida is including Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, MD into the mix.
I would further add that the bulk of government spending benefits the suburbs far more than The District itself. Think of those billions getting showered on the Defense & Homeland Security firms from Tysons Corner to Herndon to Arlington and back.
Where is the economic activity productive and lucrative INSIDE the District?
1. Special interest lobbying. Instead of plowing profits to hire more workers, many Fortune 500 corporations funneled that profit money to DC law and PR firms in order to fight regulations, reduce the tax burden and get more of that federal subsidy money. They have sympathetic lackeys in Congress with an R or D after the name. More Tea Party members in Congress could mean a better shot at weakening environmental and labor safety regulations and laws. Strike while the iron is hot, right?
Law firms and public relations shops have been hiring people like crazy since 2000 and these new positions pay a handsome income. It's one thing if you are creating jobs at some Staples office supply store at $10.00/hour. When you create jobs with starting salaries of $125,000 per year...HOLY MOLY! Huge boost to the local DC economy--especially if you are in the restaurant and retail business. Those well-paid lawyers, PR and trade association execs have to spend their "hard-earned" money somewhere, right?
2. Real Estate. Yup, the real estate speculative bubble had never burst in Washington, DC. Residential rents are still going up like crazy. Commercial leases in many downtown blocks are still cost-prohibitive. As an aside, there are a few corridors in downtown DC where leasing per square foot costs more than the best Manhattan properties. It's true.
Who benefits from the DC Real Estate craze? Obviously, the property owners. Real estate development firms and construction contractors are still raking in huge revenue. No doubt the executives are getting record bonuses and these companies are still hiring qualified workers.
Landlords are doing well in DC as well. That extra income from 10, 20 or 30 percent rent increases will pad investment accounts nicely. But even landlords and immediate family members are allowed to splurge at the city's most exclusive retail shops in Chevy Chase and dining at 5-star restaurants in Georgetown.
There you have it. Lobbying and Real Estate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 14thandYou
The Atlantic's Richard Florida has developed a list, available at the Atlantic Cities website, of the 25 most economically powerful cities in the world, based on each city's total economic output and criteria such as innovation and the strength of its financial sector.
Tokyo takes the top spot with a stunning $1.2 trillion in annual economic output, followed by New York and London. Interestingly, DC checks in tied for 10th place with Seoul, with an economic output of nearly $300 billion. DC also ranked second on the list in terms of "innovation." 9Clearly, the rankings are based on regions, not cities proper.)
Who benefits from the DC Real Estate craze? Obviously, the property owners. Real estate development firms and construction contractors are still raking in huge revenue.
Don't all District residents benefit from the hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenue generated by the real estate industry? Property tax revenues are the lifeblood of the District government, after all.
There is no way that Washington, DC (the city itself) is a center of technical or engineering innovation. No way. I would assume that Florida is including Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, MD into the mix.
I would further add that the bulk of government spending benefits the suburbs far more than The District itself. Think of those billions getting showered on the Defense & Homeland Security firms from Tysons Corner to Herndon to Arlington and back.
Where is the economic activity productive and lucrative INSIDE the District?
1. Special interest lobbying. Instead of plowing profits to hire more workers, many Fortune 500 corporations funneled that profit money to DC law and PR firms in order to fight regulations, reduce the tax burden and get more of that federal subsidy money. They have sympathetic lackeys in Congress with an R or D after the name. More Tea Party members in Congress could mean a better shot at weakening environmental and labor safety regulations and laws. Strike while the iron is hot, right?
Law firms and public relations shops have been hiring people like crazy since 2000 and these new positions pay a handsome income. It's one thing if you are creating jobs at some Staples office supply store at $10.00/hour. When you create jobs with starting salaries of $125,000 per year...HOLY MOLY! Huge boost to the local DC economy--especially if you are in the restaurant and retail business. Those well-paid lawyers, PR and trade association execs have to spend their "hard-earned" money somewhere, right?
2. Real Estate. Yup, the real estate speculative bubble had never burst in Washington, DC. Residential rents are still going up like crazy. Commercial leases in many downtown blocks are still cost-prohibitive. As an aside, there are a few corridors in downtown DC where leasing per square foot costs more than the best Manhattan properties. It's true.
Who benefits from the DC Real Estate craze? Obviously, the property owners. Real estate development firms and construction contractors are still raking in huge revenue. No doubt the executives are getting record bonuses and these companies are still hiring qualified workers.
Landlords are doing well in DC as well. That extra income from 10, 20 or 30 percent rent increases will pad investment accounts nicely. But even landlords and immediate family members are allowed to splurge at the city's most exclusive retail shops in Chevy Chase and dining at 5-star restaurants in Georgetown.
There you have it. Lobbying and Real Estate.
You always post this same rant, but do you have any statistics to back up your claims? How much of our region's GDP, for example, is generated by lobbyists?
What is the overall influence (in terms of expanded tax base, new amenities, safer neighborhoods, etc...) that new development in the city generates?
You must have statistics for you to hold such impassioned views. Just curious if you could provide them. Just guessing, but between defense, IT, non-profits, think tanks, agencies and contractors, lobbyists and real estate developers are not at the top of the pile.
There is no way that Washington, DC (the city itself) is a center of technical or engineering innovation. No way. I would assume that Florida is including Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, MD into the mix.
I would further add that the bulk of government spending benefits the suburbs far more than The District itself. Think of those billions getting showered on the Defense & Homeland Security firms from Tysons Corner to Herndon to Arlington and back.
Landlords are doing well in DC as well. That extra income from 10, 20 or 30 percent rent increases will pad investment accounts nicely. But even landlords and immediate family members are allowed to splurge at the city's most exclusive retail shops in Chevy Chase and dining at 5-star restaurants in Georgetown.
There you have it. Lobbying and Real Estate.
Huh? There are creative and innovative things going on in the District. At the end of the day most Washingtonians are just working to get by but most people are NOT lobbyists. I've lived here for 3 years and have yet to meet a lobbyists or anyone who works in politics. I've met lots of barely getting by non-profit and think tanks types. I've plenty of IT guys both in the District and in the VA burbs.
You always post this same rant, but do you have any statistics to back up your claims? How much of our region's GDP, for example, is generated by lobbyists?
What is the overall influence (in terms of expanded tax base, new amenities, safer neighborhoods, etc...) that new development in the city generates?
You must have statistics for you to hold such impassioned views. Just curious if you could provide them. Just guessing, but between defense, IT, non-profits, think tanks, agencies and contractors, lobbyists and real estate developers are not at the top of the pile.
The entire city's economy is based on sucking the wealth from other parts of the country (taxes) and putting into your sweet sweet pockets of the people who live here. Quit pretending otherwise. DC doesn't have a robust or diverse economy, and nothing is produced of value here.
The entire city's economy is based on sucking the wealth from other parts of the country (taxes) and putting into your sweet sweet pockets of the people who live here. Quit pretending otherwise. DC doesn't have a robust or diverse economy, and nothing is produced of value here.
Umm... I never said otherwise. If you notice, all the fields I listed are associated with government. I was simply questioning how large a role lobbyists and developers play in an overall GDP that includes defense, social causes, think tanks, IT, agencies, service industry, and others. I don't think it's as much as coldbliss believes, but I was wrong once back in '97. That's why I asked for statistics.
I'll say again, though - DC only exists to run a national government. To use that fact as a negative against the region reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of why we even have an economy in the first place. A better use of your anger would not be to focus on the lack of diverse industries (which is more than you seem to think) but rather to focus on why there is so much wealth here in relation to regions that actually produce things.
The entire city's economy is based on sucking the wealth from other parts of the country (taxes) and putting into your sweet sweet pockets of the people who live here. Quit pretending otherwise. DC doesn't have a robust or diverse economy, and nothing is produced of value here.
And they need to be using that money to give back to the local oppressed communities, not to zone for yet another Starbuck in Dupont. I am sick and tired of people ignoring and dissing this community.
And they need to be using that money to give back to the local oppressed communities, not to zone for yet another Starbuck in Dupont. I am sick and tired of people ignoring and dissing this community.
Federal taxes aren't used to "zone for yet another Starbuck in Dupont". In fact, once an area is zoned commercial government has very little say in what businesses move into a location (alcohol licensing has some hurdles). I'm not sure if you're just generally angry or have a specific concern, but there's actually quite a lot of federal money targeted to helping disadvantaged communities, if that's what you mean. The feds are also investing in disadvantaged neighborhoods by, for example, building the Dept. of Homeland Security in Anacostia and hiring a certain percentage of DC residents to do the build.
No amount of government spending can offset the power of thousands of people choosing to live somewhere and wanting to make purchases like coffee. Making those purchases, though, creates service industry jobs to brew that coffee. Not ideal, but it's income and a foot in the door to do something better. Oddly, I've seen a lot of entry level service industry job postings in various restaurants go unfilled for a long time.
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