By: Daniel Nardini
There are a growing number of towns and cities across this great land of ours that are seeing their people leave. With no jobs around, higher taxes to make up for lost revenue, and whole neighborhoods in decay, it is no wonder so many people are moving out of these rustbelt towns and looking for work and better places to live. Who wants to live in a state of decay? Dayton, Ohio, is just one example of a city that has seen better times. After World War II, Dayton was the manufacturing capital of Ohio. With its huge industrial sector, many people wanted to live there. Dayton had a large middle class and excellent city services. This all started to change in the 1970’s and 1980’s when many companies began to leave Dayton and go to the southern states and eventually overseas. As capital flight drained Dayton’s jobs and resources, people began to leave in droves. By the 2000’s, the last major employers in Dayton were GM and the National Cash Register (NCR) company. When GM closed its branch in 2008, and NCR left Dayton for Atlanta in 2009, it looked like Dayton would become a ghost town.
Then the Dayton City Council decided on a radical solution—welcome as many immigrants to Dayton as possible. So many Mexican and other immigrants have been going to Dayton because of its cheap housing, its need for people to bring in business and money, and most important because the city will not bother or harass them (as has been the case in too many cities and even states these days). Because of this policy parts of Dayton are beginning to show signs of life again. Neighborhoods that had been abandoned and blighted now have residents who pay rent and mortgage and help to rebuild what has been in decay for years. Many Mexican immigrants are creating businesses in downtown Dayton by opening up grocery stores, clothing shops, and restaurants. More than this, by creating businesses they help employ long-time Dayton residents and other immigrants who would otherwise not have any work. And with the coming of immigrants, long-time businesses have seen an increase in their profits.
The fact that immigrants are bringing in work and therefore cash badly needed by the city is significant. While small and medium family-sized businesses may not be able to replace the money and resources that corporations have, they are nevertheless able to bring in money that would not be there. Just as equally important is that this process has a snowball effect—more immigrants will want to come and more immigrants with money will come in and bring in more business. And the more immigrants that come in the more homes and neighborhoods that are bought and renovated. There are those who complain that these policies by Dayton and other cities may create “sanctuary cities” for the undocumented who “take away jobs.” But as has been shown, immigrants do more to create jobs than take them away, and if no immigrants came then there will be no business and with it no jobs. This is something that many long-term residents had better consider. Even though such policies may be far from perfect, at least it makes more sense to create immigrant sanctuaries than to leave whole cities and towns as urban waste lands.
Immigrant Heaven
By: Daniel Nardini
Then the Dayton City Council decided on a radical solution—welcome as many immigrants to Dayton as possible. So many Mexican and other immigrants have been going to Dayton because of its cheap housing, its need for people to bring in business and money, and most important because the city will not bother or harass them (as has been the case in too many cities and even states these days). Because of this policy parts of Dayton are beginning to show signs of life again. Neighborhoods that had been abandoned and blighted now have residents who pay rent and mortgage and help to rebuild what has been in decay for years. Many Mexican immigrants are creating businesses in downtown Dayton by opening up grocery stores, clothing shops, and restaurants. More than this, by creating businesses they help employ long-time Dayton residents and other immigrants who would otherwise not have any work. And with the coming of immigrants, long-time businesses have seen an increase in their profits.
The fact that immigrants are bringing in work and therefore cash badly needed by the city is significant. While small and medium family-sized businesses may not be able to replace the money and resources that corporations have, they are nevertheless able to bring in money that would not be there. Just as equally important is that this process has a snowball effect—more immigrants will want to come and more immigrants with money will come in and bring in more business. And the more immigrants that come in the more homes and neighborhoods that are bought and renovated. There are those who complain that these policies by Dayton and other cities may create “sanctuary cities” for the undocumented who “take away jobs.” But as has been shown, immigrants do more to create jobs than take them away, and if no immigrants came then there will be no business and with it no jobs. This is something that many long-term residents had better consider. Even though such policies may be far from perfect, at least it makes more sense to create immigrant sanctuaries than to leave whole cities and towns as urban waste lands.