New Haven lags behind in urban resurgence

According to the results of the 2000 census, cities across the nation are experiencing a population boom. New York and Chicago are among the many American cities in the midst of an "urban renaissance" with the renewal and revitalization of metropolitan communities.

But Connecticut's cities are not sharing in the growth; they remain among the few in the nation actually experiencing a decrease in population due to a shift to the suburbs. Hartford experienced a 13 percent drop in its population from 1990; Groton's population dropped 11 percent; New London's declined by 10 percent. New Haven suffered a five percent drop in its population.

KRUSHAL DAVE/YH Although Connecticut's population increased 3.6 percent between 1990 and 2000, growth clearly favored non-urban counties. Even in New Haven County, New Haven city's population fell 5.2 percent while Hamden's rose 8.5 percent.

According to Jay Gitlin, a lecturer in the history department, the question of why cities such as New Haven have not shared in the resurgence goes beyond a lack of cultural activities to an ailing infrastructure and the self-perpetuating socio-economic bifurcation of society. Gitlin, who teaches a class called "The Suburbanization of America," noted, "The economic boom in other cities has not been experienced in New Haven." Failing to keep up the maintenance of infrastructure and transportation, Connecticut has not invested sufficient time and money in refurbishing its cities. Mass transit is insufficient. The roads are insufficient. And because mass transit is neglected, its roads are not equipped to handle the massive amounts of traffic it must sustain," Gitlin said."Connecticut is a particularly cheap state."

Connecticut is also an extremely polarized state. "There exists in Connecticut, more so than in other states, a significant racial and economic disparity between its suburbs and cities," Gitlin said. "As the richest state in the nation, Connecticut's wealthy have secluded themselves in private places such as Fairfield County and New Caanan."

Further, city schools continue to suffer in areas where citizens pay lower taxes. As soon as people can afford to move out of the cities, they do, and thus city schools never improve as the wealthy and their tax dollars flee urban blight. The economic disparity between the cities and the suburbs is also mirrored by a racial disparity.

How New Haven should respond to the results of the 2000 census depends on its relationship with its neighboring suburbs, according to Gitlin and Douglas Rae, a professor at the Yale School of Management. Rather than trying to attract new families, they counseled that New Haven should continue to undergo an economic redevelopment in order to be an appealing place for its neighboring suburbanites to visit. Increased restaurants and activities need to surface in New Haven in order to attract local populations, Gitlin said. They described the economic redevelopment thus far as merely "decorative" and "insufficient."

Gitlin also stated that New Haven needs to rid itself of its "anti-commercial bias" and attract businesses to increase spending in New Haven. Gitlin also argued that New Haven had to acknowledge its connection to its local suburbs. "Cities and suburbs rise and fall together," he said.

Taking Gitlin's point even further, Rae said that New Haven may need to begin thinking of itself as "a suburb of New York City." Acknowledging that job opportunities are moving outside of the city, New Haven should accept its shift in population and respond by accommodating itself to people's changing economic opportunities. "In a capitalist society," Rae stated, "you have to cater to people's wants. You can't make water flow uphill."

In 1998, New Haven communities were declared Empowerment Zones by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. With federal aid, the city hoped to revitalize its most blighted areas by bringing job opportunities back to the inner cities as well as a necessary regeneration and improved infrastructure. But their effectiveness remains dubious. "I think empowerment zones have done very little," Rae said.

But in order to become a suburb of New York City, New Haven must improve its transportation system. As New Haven becomes more accessible, people's view of the city may change.

Rae echoed Gitlin's point when he stated, "I'm not sure that suburbanization is a problem." As an inevitable consequence of the economy, Rae concluded that suburbanization "is not going to reverse itself. We're going to have suburbs for a long time."

Nevertheless, the census results have already prompted action on the part of both Yale and New Haven, both of which announced that in the next year, $1 million will be spent on economic revitalization. Some efforts are already visible, such as Broadway redevelopment and the renewal of the Grand Street area in New Haven. According to some city officials, including Henry Fernandez, LAW '94, New Haven's director of Economic Development, the city's population is actually stabilizing after a sharp decline during the early '90s.

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