Don't forget the lousy (with some notable exceptions) public schools!! I
think it is the combination of the high tax burden and the need to pay for
private education that leads higher income families to flee for the 'burbs.
By and large its an age thing... full nest -- leave the city ... empty nest -- return.
This is supposedly the major reasons that Center City is now full and that University City is undergoing a "housing boom."
There is no single reason why people leave the City, but the underlying one is some kind of prejudice -- against the schools, against the wage tax, against the "services."
Similarly, there is no single reason why people have moved back into the city except, again some kind of prejudice -- better cultural resources, friends within walking distance, no need to own a car.
A few years ago, crime was a "theoretical" issue. Then Commissioner Timmony got folks working on the crimes against the community. Now the vandals scrawlings on the walls that some folks tried to call "art" are gone, (in some cases actually replaced by real art) and a number of special services districts are picking up the trash ... so everybody thinks things are safe again.
It's all about your frame of reference -- like the Z-brick zebra crossings (for those who scythe their lawns) that Mayor Rendell established and PennDot "disestablished" ... one wanted to make the streets "nice" for pedestrians, and the other for motorists.
People with kids want schools of a certain type and go looking for them. People without kids want to attend the Kimmel or Tweeter centers.
While the wage tax issue is real, it is also not an issue for 99% of the population any more than the exorbitant chunk that the Federal Government takes. They simply do not care. People complain about a 5% wage tax, but demand that the Federal Government increase the Income Tax. And the primary reason that nobody cares is the concept of the "witholding tax." If people had to sit down and write a check for their wage and income taxes as many have to do for Property Taxes and Health Care Costs, then there would be a much bigger revolt. But since nobody ever sees that money because your employer has deducted it from your check, everybody very quickly "forgets" that they are paying it. Every single politician knows this fact and so they continue to raise taxes and spend like a bunch of drunken sailors.
However, I suspect that the primary reason that everyone wants to flee to the suburbs is a deep seated desire for "40 acres and a mule." There are only two personality types, Urban and Suburban. I know very few people who are truly "City people," but many, many more who are "Suburban people" -- even when living in the city. (Why else would so many "city folk" have such a desire for gardens, parks and the like?)
Still no signature Magill
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