Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Welcome to Conklin, New York (population 5,313 and falling)



New York’s Southern Tier, Once a Home for Big Business, Is Struggling.  (The New York Times, 9/29/2015)
This town of roughly 5,500 residents looks alarmingly like dozens of other towns and cities in New York’s Southern Tier, a vast part of the state that runs parallel to Pennsylvania. Years ago, the region was a manufacturing powerhouse, a place where firms like General Electric and Westinghouse thrived. But over time companies have downsized, or left altogether, lured abroad or to states with lower taxes and fewer regulations. 
Conklin’s population is aging and shrinking, troubled by job loss and even floods. There never seems to be enough money to pay for basic services, like water and sewage.

The Town of Conklin is located just southeast of Binghamton.


Which is shrinking at a faster rate than Conklin.


I know the area well.

I grew up just south of New York's Southern Tier, in a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Warren, too, is no longer a manufacturing powerhouse.  And as a result, it's not such a pretty picture anymore.



Related post: 
Like many stores before it, K-Mart sez goodbye to Warren Mall. (9/29/2014)

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