[Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
Sue Hovey
suehovey at moscow.com
Thu Oct 25 09:53:06 PDT 2007
Donovan,
Certainly your grandfather Lee was right on the mark with his statement about Moscow and everyone knowing who one is and who one is.....
And you are probably right on the mark about the bath pillow, so I'm taking your word for it, but I will respond to one of your statements because it is very important to me.
You mentioned having children with disabilities and Moscow not offering what they need. Well as you probably know, I can speak to that one in spades. One of the reasons we have never considered living anywhere else is because of our daughter, who grew up here knowing almost everyone, was and is cared for and protected by the citizens of this city.
She was one of the first to go through the Moscow Schools under the provisions of the Idaho Law for special education, which predated the federal law by a few years. It wasn't always easy for her or the school district as she moved from elementary school through the high school, but I feel the special education program which now begins with preschool and continues through age 21 could legitimately be named for her. One of the reasons I am so angry with Gerry Weitz and his lackeys is because we, too, fought with the school district through those times, and even threatened to involve state and federal officials, but never, ever would we have done anything to harm the other students. And the program that was a result of our (and Leslie's) struggle continues to benefit those who are enrolled.
She continues to thrive here. She has been an employee at Rosauers for about a decade--a place where she feels valued. When she messes up her computer, the fellows at VGH fix it for her, and laugh about the fact that at least she doesn't download porn. She loves Vandal basketball and attends the home games with Judy and Tom Morris. She gets good medical care right here in Moscow. Her service providers who work through the Department of Health and Welfare and the University of Idaho know her as a person and not a case number.
Leslie is representative of a large group of people with disabilities who have chosen to live in Moscow because they like living here and the other residents welcome them. And that's despite the fact that in almost any other state the funding is better for people with special needs than it is in Idaho.
And Spokane isn't a big city. Hummmmm. I guess big is a relative term. It continues to be the second largest city in Washington State, and in a comparison with Moscow--well I won't give you that point, but the bath pillow, it's yours.
Sue H.
----- Original Message -----
From: Donovan Arnold
To: Sue Hovey ; v2020
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 10:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
Sue,
I think you will find as I did, that a foam pillow for a bathtub would quickly mold. I find the selection of low calorie and sugar free foods in Moscow limited and more expensive than a larger city.
Yes Sue, your basic needs may be meet in Moscow, but many others are not. What if you had a child with a heart murmur, or was Autistic? What if you are a college student with $40,000 in debt and your degree is in a field that does not have any jobs or internships in Moscow?
There are many things that Moscow does not offer, particularly for those with a need to make more than $35,000 a year and don't have a teaching certificate. The average household income in Latah is less than $35,000.
My Grandfather, Leeland G. Connelly, use to say, "The good thing about Moscow is that everyone knows who you are, and the the bad thing about Moscow is that everyone knows who you are."
I guess it depends on how you look at things, what you value most, what your needs are, and at what stage you are at in life.
Best,
Donovan
PS, Spokane is not a big city.
Sue Hovey <suehovey at moscow.com> wrote:
Actually, Donovan, one can find sugar free pickles lots of places and a bath pillow--well I haven't looked for one but if I needed to, I'd go to Tri State, buy some foam and make my own.
One other issue. Folks keep talking about bringing in jobs and making the comparison to Seattle, Pittsburg, etc. What about those of us who choose to live here because we can buy everything we really need here, we can get all the way across town in about 3 minutes, we can know a very big percentage of the population on a first name basis, we can enjoy a walk around town without being bothered by freeways, super highways, and busy pedestrians running to catch a bus or taxi. And gridlock here in downtown Moscow on a really busy day lasts about 4 seconds. Call me a naysayer, but I like it this way. And when I really want to go to a big city to shop I do it in conjunction with a play in Spokane, a business trip to DC, or a vacation. Or I shop over the Internet. I don't need more of anything much as long as Bookpeople, Casa Lopez and the Red Door, VGH, Tri State, Browns Furniture, Sisters, Wild Women Traders, and Rosauers stay in business. And if Walmart closed its doors, I wouldn't miss it for a minute. I like the ambiance of downtown especially on a Farmer's Market Morning. Am I missing anything---I don't think so.
Sue H.
----- Original Message -----
From: Donovan Arnold
To: Tom Hansen ; Bill London ; lfalen ; v2020
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 6:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
I think you have to have the low tech and industrial jobs before we can support the high tech jobs. High technology jobs usually depend on the industrial jobs to produce the materials they manufacture. Moscow does not have the means, the human resources or the industrial might, to support high technological jobs. You can hardly find sugar free pickles or a bath pillow in Moscow, much less a piece of gold shaped to the exact dimensions needed for a conductor. I would venture to say higher technological companies like having the resources and industry to supply them with their materials rather waiting weeks for it cross mountains and rivers to Moscow, Idaho, and having to pay for the transportation jobs.
Jobs that don't need industry and materials are usually outsourced overseas.
I would suggest that Moscow take advantage of its valuable clays and fertile soil if it wants to branch outside of education as its sole bread winner.
Best,
Donovan
Tom Hansen <idahotom at hotmail.com> wrote:
In my opinion, it is really quite simple, Mr. Falen.
The retail stores will follow the high tech jobs into town alot quicker than high tech jobs will follow retail stores.
As more and more high tech jobs are available here in Moscow, more and more people will seek those high-tech (pronounced "high paying") jobs.
As more and more people fill those high tech, high paying jobs, the more money there is flowing around the city of Moscow.
Also, as these jobs develop into careers, people holding those jobs evolve from a person to a couple to a family.
As more and more money is distributed around the city of Moscow (by these persons, couples, families), more and more retail outlets will establish themselves in Moscow.
And just FYI, Mr. Falen: That, to me, is GROWTH.
If you think that by flooding the city of Moscow with retail store after retail store after retail store, this will attract the high tech jobs, you are only fooling yourself.
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: london at moscow.com
> To: lfalen at turbonet.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
> Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:36:59 -0700
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
>
> R-
> You missed the point.
> These high-tech jobs can go anywhere. All towns want them.
> The entrepreneurs can be choosy, and they are choosy. They want towns with
> a high quality of life.
> If Moscow sacrifices its high quality of life for (what you describe as)
> "almost anything that will provide jobs, increase the tax base and improve
> the overall economy", then we lose what now attracts these high-tech jobs.
> You just can not have it both ways.
> I want to live in a town that maintains its high quality of life and
> therefore is attractive to high-tech jobs -- not a town that has no
> standards but goes for any growth.
> BL
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "lfalen" <lfalen at turbonet.com>
> To: "Bill London" <london at moscow.com>; "v2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 10:34 AM
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
>
>
> >I can't argue with bringing in high-tech companies, I'm all for it. I think
> >Moscow should try to attract all kinds of businesses. It is fine to place
> >controls on those that would create undue pollution. Other than that
> >promote almost anything that will provide jobs, increase the tax base and
> >improve the overall economy.
> > Roger
> > -----Original message-----
> > From: "Bill London" london at moscow.com
> > Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:58:18 -0700
> > To: "v2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
> > Subject: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow
> >
> >>
> >> Today's Tribune article about the MCA forum held last night is a great
> >> summary of the choices facing Moscow voters in this council election.
> >> Vote for the future with MCA endorsed candidates and Moscow will aim for
> >> both maintaining its uniqueness and attracting more entrepreneurial
> >> businesses. My thanks to the MCA board for sponsoring this forum. BL
> >>
> >> ----------------
> >> Is high-tech the key to Moscow's future?
> >> Forum sponsored by Moscow Civic Association brings together business and
> >> community leaders
> >> By David Johnson
> >> October 23, 2007
> >>
> >>
> >> MOSCOW - The economic future of Moscow will depend more on attracting and
> >> retaining high-tech companies than encouraging more housing and retail
> >> business, members of a panel agreed Monday night.
> >>
> >> "In the basic form, economic development is jobs," said B.J. Swanson,
> >> vice president of AmericanWest Bank here and chairwoman of the board of
> >> directors for Gritman Medical Center. "But not just any job." She said
> >> jobs should provide enough money to offer a reasonably comfortable
> >> living.
> >>
> >> Robin Woods, president of Alturas Analytics located in Moscow, said 100
> >> percent of her bio-tech business comes from outside Idaho, most of it
> >> from the San Francisco Bay Area. Yet, she and her partners opted to
> >> locate here because of the quality of life that's available
> >>
> >> "Probably it would have been better to locate in San Francisco or
> >> Seattle, but with Fed Ex and the fiber-optic that we have ... and with
> >> the Internet, the world is flat and we can conduct our business here,"
> >> Woods said.
> >>
> >> David Alexander, a UI graduate and CEO of Ivus Industries, a small
> >> business he decided to locate here, said Moscow is an ideal location for
> >> entrepreneurs to tap into a high-tech labor pool that spins off both the
> >> University of Idaho and neighboring Washington State University in
> >> Pullman.
> >>
> >> "What the business is, is a focus on extremely fast-charging rechargeable
> >> products," Alexander said of his startup company. He said the company,
> >> which has four employees, is currently developing a fast-charging
> >> flashlight.
> >>
> >> Judy Brown, an economist and director of the Idaho Center on Budget and
> >> Tax Policy, said research shows if a community creates a good living
> >> environment, jobs will come. "The key thing that attracts" entrepreneurs
> >> and businesses to an area, Brown said, is quality of life, not tax
> >> breaks.
> >>
> >> "Quality of life and the ability to work either from home or near home,"
> >> she said, "are the two really key things in deciding where people locate
> >> those kinds of businesses."
> >>
> >> The forum, sponsored by the Moscow Civic Association, comes two weeks
> >> prior to a city council election here that many say hinges on attitudes
> >> about economic growth. Bruce Livingston, president of the MCA, said the
> >> forum was called in part to dispel the notion that the MCA is
> >> anti-economic growth. He said the MCA is "pro business, pro growth and
> >> pro community."
> >>
> >> About 30 people, including several council candidates, attended the forum
> >> at the 1912 Center.
> >>
> >> Swanson said Moscow needs to wean itself from a housing and retail
> >> fixation about growth. "Our voracious appetite to approve subdivision
> >> after subdivision, to build high-end homes, has run out of high-end
> >> people to occupy them," Swanson said, adding that new retail businesses
> >> seem to be only replacing old ones.
> >>
> >> "Over-built housing and replacement retail is not a good economic model,"
> >> Swanson said.
> >>
> >> According to statistics presented at the forum, Moscow has a population
> >> of about 22,350 and UI employs about 2,870 people. Gritman employs 431,
> >> with the Moscow School District and Wal-Mart, by comparison, employing
> >> 350 and 207 people, respectively.
> >>
> >> Swanson said it's time for the community to get back on the right
> >> economic track with the primary focus on good-paying jobs and a secondary
> >> focus on housing and retail business. "And as always, focus on anything
> >> that will help the University of Idaho. They've carried us for years.
> >> It's time for us to get out and carry ourselves."
> >>
> >> All the panelists said Moscow city officials and members of the city
> >> council have been extremely pro-business.
> >>
> >> "Our intent is to hire WSU and University of Idaho graduates," Woods said
> >> about her expanding business. She said that all but one of the 30 people
> >> working at Alturas Analytics are from the two universities. Woods said
> >> it's important for Moscow to complete it's rewrite of the comprehensive
> >> plan, and to keep tech businesses together to encourage more business.
> >>
> >> "I think it's important to have kind of a think-tank atmosphere," she
> >> said, "kind of a campus atmosphere in your tech park. So I don't think
> >> it's a good idea to scatter things here and there."
> >>
> >> Swanson pointed out Alturas Technology Park, located on the southeastern
> >> edge of town, had modest beginnings, but now is home to around 150 jobs
> >> that have annual salaries of $50,000 and up. "And those jobs really
> >> contribute back to the community," she said.
> >>
> >> ---
> >>
> >> Johnson may be contacted at deveryone at potlatch.com or (208) 883-0564.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
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