Allentown NIZ Biggest Failure

While it is true some jobs were created, the majority of workers simply were displaced from the areas they once worked to downtown. What jobs were created are some of the lowest paying jobs in the market. There are five kinds of buildings. (1) Entertainment. (2) Office. (3) Hotel. (4) Apartments. (5) Restaurants.

What's Missing Is Manufacturing
These are the kind of blue collar jobs that can lift people out of poverty unlike most of these being built within the NIZ. Allentown once had a vibrant manufacturing base. Places like Mack Trucks, textiles, furniture, Western Electric and so forth. Without that component NIZ fails to lift the current majority out of poverty. Allentown touts it's business incubator projects but failed to include it any way as part of the plans for NIZ.

The city may say it's trying. Well they're not trying hard enough. It's not like someone didn't think of this before. CNN MONEY: Brooklyn startup plays manufacturing matchmaker-- "Based in Brooklyn, Maker's Row has eight employees who match U.S. manufacturers with American companies that want their products made here... the site has already signed up over 3,000 manufacturers and about 31,000 companies that need things produced."


Talking Points
At it's inception NIZ was supposed to generate new tax income. Part of that mix surely should have been to seek out new manufacturing businesses owners. Instead we have mostly shuffled existing jobs around from one place to another and created some of the lowest paying jobs that exist. Other then some low paying service & restaurant jobs the NIZ was over sold

In essence what we have here is yet another example of 'trickle down economics'. A scheme whose hypothesis is if we throw enough crap at the wall some of it may stick.

04/11/2015: Will manufacturers move back to urban centers?
"That’s all the more true now that millennials in particular are flocking to cities... it also will require willingness by the city to take the lead in consolidating myriad tiny parcels into tracts of 20 acres or more—sizes sought by many manufacturers.. Indianapolis has a big advantage over many cities in its ready supply of technical graduates from such colleges as Indiana and Purdue universities, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology."

"Indianapolis has a big advantage over many cities". SO DO WE!
Lehigh, Lafayette and Kutztown, to name just three. Imagine if we could keep those graduates here instead of leaving after graduation.

Final Words
The original concept of NIZ wasn't a bad idea. How it was carried out has a lot to be desired. Without a strong manufacturing component, the NIZ has failed to restore Allentown to what once made it what it was. A strong middle class blue collar area.

By ignoring the creation of blue collar manufacturing jobs what we are experiencing is yet another repeat of the 1% of getting even a larger share of the pie. The only way everybody's boat will rise is when the other 99% get some sort of share. Service sector jobs simply won't accomplish what needs to be done to make this city whole again.