Shrinking US Cities Welcome Immigration

Here's an interesting article about how struggling US cities are welcoming immigrants with open arms in an attempt to repopulate their tax base.Dayton OH

Dayton, whose population has fallen in recent years, is rolling out the welcome mat for legal immigrants to boost the community.

It approved a plan last week that aims to help legal immigrants navigate the system to establish themselves in the community.

"When folks come, we'd like to welcome them. We'd like to let them know what their resources are to learn English," said Human Relations Council Director Tom Wahlrab. "We want to let them know they have a part in our community."

The plan includes recommendations to create an international marketplace and to increase language services and English classes.

While the sentiment is nice and this is a refreshing change of pace, the problem here is, once they attract new residents and new businesses, what will they do with them?  I'm sure there will be tax breaks and other incentives for these new-comers, but a few years after they arrive, will you begin to drive them away with your socialism the way you drove away your former residents?

Capitalism is the only solution to shrinking cities and the US economy's troubles.  Free markets can and will determine who lives where and if there's enough jobs for those residents.  Free markets will allow people to pursue their happiness and trade freely and peacefully amongst each other.  Governments do not create jobs, happiness or prosperity, as the US government has so clearly illustrated the past 100+ years.

Comments (2)

Dayton lost its population due to the loss of NCR Corp. to Georgia which gave it very large tax breaks as well as the decline of GM and Delphi the other major employers. Ohio seems to be fairly friendly to business in a lot of ways except for unions which is obviously a deal killer. Just a couple hours West, nearby more business friendly Indiana's auto industry is doing far better. Any promising young professionals headed to Cincinnati, Chicago and maybe even Indianapolis or Louisville.

For those that will not move, the city has turned in to a crime filled welfare state with crazy quantities of empty houses in large neighborhoods. So there aren't enough jobs, why can't they move a couple hours west outside of Indianapolis to get a job at the Subaru plant or other? The world is dynamic, you can't expect to stay in the exact same latitude and longitude and expect a job to be handed to you for life.

The one major employer is the air force which is the overwhelmingly largest employer. By the way, the Air Force museum here rivals the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.
The city has a lot going for it, great minor league baseball, beautiful Oregon District, Riverscape, a history that's actually quite interesting in the early 1900s, etc.

Can you imagine the resurgence if the government declared a guarantee to ignore zoning lows, eliminate or set maximum property taxes, eliminate planning commissions, etc. for 50 years or forever, not able to be revoked? Then humans could plan for the future. A Midwest Hong Kong would be an appropriate rival for California. I'm sure businesses would like the extra land and cheaper everything if only they were able to plan using their minds without artificial government uncertainty.

Thank you so much for sharing this information, Taylor, and thank you for reading MoE!

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