Great Expectations

Random notions:

* the lack of value on education isn't unique to Philly. Look at TV: people with knowledge and quick wits are either game show contestants or quirky fictional caricatures.

* education is probably the only substance that increases in value the more people who have it. The flip side of that is that as fewer people are educated, fewer people recognize the potential value.

* a corollary to the above is that the good planning needed to establish good education itself depends on planners being well-educated. Then you have the problem of whether voters prefer educated candidates, which goes to whether the voters are themselves educated.

I agree that there is more that could be done to make the region more appealing to both native college students and outside students. But legislative and tax code changes take time. We have to build on our existing strengths as well.
What other ways could colleges market themselves to reinforce the many advantages of living in our region?

I often hear that there is a lack of an educated workforce here in Philly. However, in my experience, there is a lack of quality jobs for an educated workforce....especially inside the city limits. In my group of friends(college grads in their mid 20s), there is a strong desire to work in the city, but there's definitely a lack of jobs (the health field being the big exception).

In your experience talking with employers, do they actually have a tough time finding qualified candidates to apply for job openings?

Sorry, folks, a little glitch in the action meant I wasn't seeing your comments as they posted. I'm caught up now:

Mitchell - That's a pretty grim view of things, though it bears some resemblance to the fix Philadelphia hasn't gotten itself into. But look at the prospects of a new day: The new mayor is a Penn grad, elected with a mix of votes from long time neighborhood residents and highly educated "new Philadelphians." He's very attuned to the need to work more in concert with the eds and meds. This is really an area where leaders who pay attention can make a difference.

Andy - As I mentioned, Campus Philly is doing a fine job of marketing Philly higher ed nationally and internationally. The support has come from government and colleges; the colleges need to keep keeping up their end, and local corporate leaders might pitch in more, given how much Campus Philly's work relates to workforce development. Also, the city's colleges right now are benefiting from a strong trend to urban campuses among college-age youth; many of them grew up in the 'burbs, and this is part of their rebellion vs. their upbringing. Temple, for example, has never been hotter. My son goes there, and no one on campus goes around apologizing for being at Temple anymore. But for colleges generally the pool of applicants is very strong right now, because there's a large college-age demographic. We're heading for more of a baby-bust period in the 18-22 demographic, so Philly colleges really need to establish a new, upbeat perception nationally, and figure out how to drive it home when the competition for smart kids heats up.

Roman - It's the classic chicken/egg conundrum. There's definitely a shortage of CITY-BASED knowledge economy jobs; there are plenty such jobs in the 'burbs (seen as streching from Wilmington to Princeton), but how is a young person living in the city for its quality of life supposed to find out about and get connected to those farflung jobs? That's part of the workforce development puzzle to be worked on. As for city-based jobs, until the city's tax structure problems get worked on, and the crime perception gets turned around, I think we're in trouble - no matter how many great hospitals and business schools we have.

Chris

Why does the city hold on to so much property, or city held/controlled land bank type agencies, when wage tax free/BPT free zones could be created and the parcels openly, competitively auctioned off right now to interested pharma/tech/research technology transfer places right now?

The ideas in the Satullo piece and comparisons to other cities were excellent. But it's not a brand new idea to city council and the mayor. This stuff has been presented before, numerous times. With zero effect.

Business hears it. Jobs go where the cost is lowest to do business. Companies get that Philly is byzantine.

They know the cost of business is too high in the city, so they move a few inches left on the map to King of Prussia, Exton, etc., a biotech mecca. We're a biotech desert compared to NJ and the rest of the Del. Valley. Why isn't Astra Zenaca here? Because it's so much better financially to be in Delaware. Duh, city council and mayor.

There's no reason we can't have council roll back this job killing over-taxation and equalize or even better our appeal compared to the surrounding counties or states.

Philly has been in denial -- Council is in denial, Street is in denial -- that our competition, the little county next door, is kicking our butts.

The old ways have to be let go. Even the press is scared to take it on. How can I write about the RDA, PAID, PDIC, without effusively PRAISING them? Easy, look at how much property they hold that they do NOTHING WITH FOR YEARS.

See the proof on www.hallwatch.org and click on property tax delinquents. The city is the worst delinquent because the city and RDA hold the most vacant lots, factories, shells, that sit there. Many of these properties are/were businesses that drove a huge economic engine, and there's no reason they can't be again, bringing in jobs, and paying taxes.

With no tax base, schools are so bad I wouldn't let my dog go to most of the Philly schools, much less any precious child.

The press has to look at the less popular, glossy things that other cities did such as collect back taxes, openly sell unused properties it holds or controls to the highest bidder, not the most generous contributor. Other cities and states worked together. They added prison space, added police/court/parole/probation supervision capacity. Other cities don't have huge long lists of warrants to be picked up only when you get them in a traffic stop. Other cities took welfare to work seriously, and didn't miss the goals set out by the federal government. Other cities, in other words, took the best of what both parties, both political philosophies, have to offer, and used them to full effect. The bipartisanship is everywhere in Chicago with Illinois, with NYC and NY. With San Fran or San Diego, or Walnut Creek, and California.

Philly and the press have to put the city first, meaning the individual can't take precedence over the city's need for revenue. If you have 8 years of overdue taxes, you've had a chance to pay it. 8 years worth of chances.

Time to pony up. Time for the city to let go of the idea that we can have the city take the place of business. Street was so contemptuous to Penn, and Blackwell, that they both are considered high simpletons with no exposure to the basic concepts of good governance.

Many times I've heard Street say, "I'm not going to balance the budget on the backs of the people."

Uh, how else can you balance it? By borrowing out the wazoo and having high debt service payments? Taxing business still more? Beg from Harrisburg?

You can only balance it with an educated populace that pays its costs to the city. We can't pretend that Philly can hold huge tracts of high school drop outs by paying their costs for them forever. If the city is expensive to live in, that's because -- it's a city. That's OK.

It's also OK to not try to prevent people from moving to where the cost of living is cheaper, the jobs for their skill levels more abundant, and the towns safer.

Why does Philly want to hold every uneducated person in place, frozen, as though this was the best place to be poor? It's not. It's absolutely the worst place to be low income and raise a family.

The city has to stop trying to be the landlord to a huge underclass it can't support.

It's been pointed out to me that in this piece I neglected to mention one medical school in Philadelphia - the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. That was an omission. There are five, not four medical schools in the city.
Thanks to the alert reader who caught that.

Chris Satullo