States throw money at military bases to keep them open

[KamaAina]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/States-throw-money-at-military-bases-to-keep-them-6686144.php

States with large military bases are filling what is traditionally the federal government's role by picking up the tab for construction and repairs, saying they can't afford not to.

The number of states willing to spend taxpayer money to fix infrastructure in military facilities, and the scale of the projects, has increased steadily in the past five years. State officials argue that the Pentagon keeps asking for base closings and they want to protect their bases and the revenue they bring in.

Essentially, states are treating their bases like large corporations they want to keep within their borders, and at least one high-ranking Navy official says it's a good idea. Connecticut has been a leader, setting aside $40 million to improve aging infrastructure at the naval submarine base there, much like it's also spending hundreds of millions of dollars to keep companies in Connecticut and create jobs.

"We are changing the ways we think about military bases," said Bob Ross, executive director of Connecticut's Office of Military Affairs. "These are big commercial enterprises. They are publicly financed, but there is so much commercial activity that goes on at these bases, you have to look at them the same way you look at a corporation."

Or, they could redevelop them, as Monterey County, CA has done with the former Fort Ord, part of which is now a California State University campus.

[jeff47]

1. Yeah....lived in a city that "redeveloped" their former Air Force base.

The city is now Detroit without the positive aspects - a poster child for collapsing rust belt former city. They're still waiting for that redevelopment to actually do any good.

They even have a large chunk of space set aside for a "nanotechnology center", so jobs will be coming back very soon now! Real soon. Reeeaaally soon. Anytime now.

[KamaAina]

2. Many Air Force bases have been redeveloped into airports

notably Bergstrom AFB outside Austin, which is now the city's main airport. It offers many more flights than the old airport, including the "nerd bird" to San Jose.

Where is this? If it's too small for a passenger airport, there's always cargo.

[jeff47]

3. You have to have enough people in the city to need an airport.

And you have to have enough business in the city to need cargo.

It's Rome, NY. Stay away. Far away. No, a little further.

ETA: The area used to make an enormous amount of Oneida dishware....until that went to China. They used to make a lot of Revere copper products...until that went to China and Mexico. The wiring in your house that's not run through conduits? It used to be called Romex, and was invented by the now-defunct Rome Wire Company.

The place is misery made physical.

[KamaAina]

4. Oh, I've heard of that one. Didn't Sen. Clinton try to get something going up there?

No matter what you may think of her as a presidential candidate , he carpetbagger status allowed her to do what no other Senator from downstate could do: represent upstate NY as well.

Given the location, I'm thinking cargo flights to our largest trading partner. No, not China. Canada.

[jeff47]

5. Nope. She didn't.

She made noises about "getting something". Didn't actually do anything.

Given the location, I'm thinking cargo flights to our largest trading partner. No, not China. Canada.

Hauling what?

People don't send cargo around for entertainment. There would have to actually be some industry to be supplied by that cargo. And there isn't any industry. And there's no reason to locate new industry there.

[KamaAina]

6. Going a little deeper, it seems that nearby Utica doesn't have an airport

so you put the two together and you might have something. jetBlue got its start flying from upstate NY and VT to what were then underutilized slots at JFK. From there you'd have access to their decent network -- and that helps attract more industry.

[jeff47]

7. Still not enough people. The closest airport is Syracuse.

And with Syracuse, Rome and Utica's populations all using that airport....the airlines cut back to small commuter planes only. Nothing over about 20 passengers.

Also, there's places you can reach by air in the same time that do not have multiple feet of snow on the ground every winter due to lake effect snow. Which is why industry sees no reason to move to the area.

The area is on a ridge. The rivers on one side run to the Great Lakes. The rivers on the other side run to New York. So the cities started from workers who carried raw materials from barges on one side of the ridge to barges on the other side of the ridge. Stuff coming from the Great Lakes and heading to New York, mostly.

Then some people had the bright idea of processing the raw materials there, instead of carrying the raw materials all the way to the other side of the ridge. That lead to an industrial city, mostly around processing ore into metals and metal goods.

Raw materials no longer flow past there. Winters are nasty. There's no reason for there to be a city there anymore, so the cities are slowly decaying.