Central and Western Massachusetts have struggled for years to break free of the long shadow cast by Greater Boston, the economic engine of New England and one of the wealthiest urban hubs on the planet.
It’s certainly not for a lack of trying. The region has plenty of cheerleaders in chambers of commerce and state economic development officials touting the merits of Central and Western Massachusetts to companies looking for a new home.
“Central & Western are going to need a few more victories to build up the momentum before one of the big corporates say yes,” Jay Ash, the state’s economic development chief, noted in an email to a Springfield pol, according to MassLive. “But it never hurts to ask and advocate, so I will continue to do so.”
All cheerleading aside, the situation seems to be getting worse, with the GE headquarters deal and now word of Amazon’s strong interest in the Hub further increasing the disparity between the Boston area and everyone else in Massachusetts.
Scott Van Voorhis
So it’s time for all the boosters trying to sell corporate America on the virtues of the Pioneer Valley and the potential of sundry and assorted old mill towns to face up a harsh but necessary reality: GE isn’t walking through that door, nor is Aetna or, for that matter, any other major company, certainly not now and probably not for decades to come.
If it was all about costs, then Springfield, Worcester or Fitchburg would win hands down, even with the huge tax breaks Boston and other cities are throwing around. There is no comparing the cost of living, especially when it comes to housing prices, which have gone through the roof in Eastern Massachusetts. But the bright lights of the big cities are simply too alluring for corporate types following the herd and hoping that they’ll look cutting-edge by plunking their headquarters down in new economy showcases like Boston, San Francisco or Seattle.
There is also a big workforce/labor issue as well. The large majority of the state’s population – as much as two-thirds – lives in the relatively compact Greater Boston area, which is also the epicenter for the state’s higher ed, biotech, high-tech and health care sectors. If you want to go fishing, you head for the pond with the most fish.
Go West, Young Man –8If You Can Get There
It’s time for a major shift in economic development strategy from Beacon Hill down to the city and town level. Rather than trying to force or entice companies to relocate to places in which they have no interest, what’s needed is a major overhaul of the state’s transportation system – from highways to commuter rail – to enable people to get to where the jobs are.
For starters, that means a major rethink of the public transportation system and what a booming metro area like Boston needs in the 21st century.
Gov. Charlie Baker has made huge strides in whipping the ridiculous, quasi-third-world MBTA into shape. But the overall strategy hasn’t changed that much over the past two decades, focused on patching together a rickety and aging structure so the trains will mostly run on time.
What’s needed is a new plan that would both reenergize the system’s core lines – especially the commuter rail – and expand to tap into new demand in the suburbs and beyond.
One particularly intriguing idea is for a high-speed train from Boston to Springfield. This could be a double win, providing access to jobs in the Boston area for workers in Western Massachusetts while also opening up the region’s far less expensive housing market to buyers priced out of the Boston area.
The highway system needs a major reboot as well, with 128 well past the capacity mark and gridlock expanding to local roadways across the Greater Boston suburbs. There has been talk by transportation advocates over the years of dedicated bus lanes and other potential game-changers – some of which have been successful in other states – but nothing has never come of it.
If anything, Greater Boston’s transportation woes are on the rise, despite valiant efforts to stabilize the T. And the combination of a stubbornly unreliable public transportation system with increasingly gridlocked roadways only exacerbates the longer-term trends that have seen a booming urban core at the expense of outlying regions.
As even relatively simple commutes between Boston and suburbs within the 128 belt become ever more arduous, the incentive for companies and home and condominium buyers alike to move closer in rises.
So enough already with all the happy talk from state economic development officials about luring the Amazons and Aetnas of the world to Western Massachusetts. It’s time to think of ways to bring people to where the jobs are, not the other way around.
