[Grovenet] America's Trillion-Dollar Baby

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Do I understand your use of "consumption base" to mean that the city's
revenues are based on what the residents spend in local businesses? 

It's my impression that the bulk of the residents here, even many of those
who also work here, spend most of their money elsewhere. After all, what is
there to buy in Forest Grove compared to other nearby towns? 

With a large percentage of the residents working elsewhere, what's their
incentive to dig around here for something they can pick up on their way to
and from work? 

Ron D'Eau Claire 



-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of David Morelli
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 12:59 PM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] America's Trillion-Dollar Baby


No, I am saying that our tax base is shifting from one that was based  
upon an urban mix to one based upon a suburban mix.

Formerly, we had a city with businesses and residences providing a  
tax base with residents and workers representing the consumption  
base.  Now, we are moving to a city with a reduced percentage of tax  
base coming from business and an increase in consumption coming from  
residents.

The mantra that has been around for a long time goes, "residential  
land doesn't support residential services, it needs to be subsidized  
by business land."

In the case of Matshushita and the Pacific graduate programs, they  
grew by leaving Forest Grove which reduced in-town and out-of-town  
employees.  In the case of Pacific, I understand that the city  
financially assisted them in their effort to leave.

David

On Feb 9, 2007, at 11:23 AM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

> Are you saying that local businesses cost the city money?
>
> Otherwise how can the fact that a business grows by hiring an out-
> of-town
> employee cause an imbalance in the city's budget?
>
> Ron D'Eau Claire
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-
> bounces at rdrop.com] On
> Behalf Of David Morelli
> Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 12:38 AM
> To: Forest Grove local interests list
> Subject: Re: [Grovenet] America's Trillion-Dollar Baby
>
>
>
> On Feb 8, 2007, at 2:25 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
>
>> Carol:
>>
>> ...
>> That raises an interesting question: What percentage of the 20,000 
>> residents of Forest Grove work in Forest Grove? I suspect it's less 
>> than half, but I don't know. Also, I suspect it's a declining number. 
>> The number of commuters is growing.
>>
>> Even if it's a fairly small number who commute, that means that 
>> Forest Grove is being driven not by the needs of the community we 
>> call Forest Grove, but by the needs of the larger Portland 
>> metropolitan area. I suspect we are already simply another 
>> "neighborhood" of that metropolis. And it's a growing metropolis.
>>
>> Ron D'Eau Claire
>
> Good questions.  I would suggest that we ask the inverse as well. What 
> percentage of the jobs in the Forest Grove vicinity are filled by 
> persons commuting into Forest Grove?
>
> Some time in the last few decades, the jobs and workers were in rough 
> balance.  Since that time it has fallen out of balance and is moving 
> further away.  The loss of Matshushita and the Pacific University 
> graduate programs hurt those numbers just recently.
>
> That imbalance is a likely suspect for the imbalance in the city's 
> budget.
>
> David
> _______________________________________________
> GroveNet mailing list
> GroveNet at rdrop.com http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet
>
> _______________________________________________
> GroveNet mailing list
> GroveNet at rdrop.com http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet

_______________________________________________
GroveNet mailing list
GroveNet at rdrop.com http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet