2 ms·

"Now the neighborhood is better, but so is the rest of NYC." That sounds like a positive outcome to me. "The poor make bad choices and have bad life skills (e

"Now the neighborhood is better, but so is the rest of NYC." That sounds like a positive outcome to me. "The poor make bad choices and have bad life skills (e.g., don't always show up to work)." That is not true generally. If you are a hard-working person born and raised in a horrible place, it is hard to get out. And, there are people that are willing to work hard to turn their life around but could benefit greatly from some assistance. I personally know several people that benefited from government welfare/food stamps/WIC and who were able to raise their standards livings substantially because of it. It is true that there are people that won't work hard or who will abuse any help they get, but in my experience most people are pretty good. Most importantly, children don't deserve to suffer because of their parents' stupidity. It isn't hard to see how children can benefit from moving from an inner-city school to a middle class one, if you've ever visited an inner-city school.

yummyfajitas 18y ago
The outcome for morningside heights is positive, but I see no reason to believe it is related to Columbia. Columbia didn't improve morningside, Rudy+good economy improved all of NYC. As for the work skills of the poor, there are 7.7 million working poor, compared to 24.2 million poor adults. "Working poor" == "in the labor force (working or seeking work) 27 weeks/year or more". So less than 1/3 of poor adults spent at even half the year working or trying to work. As for children, it may or may not help. It's not obvious to me that a good school can overcome the effects of a bad parent. Sources for my figures: http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2005.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2005.pdf http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServer/2006-SUM.pdf?docID=7722 http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServer/2006-SUM.pdf?... (Yes, I subtracted 2006 numbers from 2005 numbers, but I expect they didn't change much between years.)
- siculars 18y ago
  I actually live in Morningside Heights, and not the part that had always been good. IMHO, a lot of the progress in New York can be directly attributed to Rudy and his team. They really cleaned up this place. Nevertheless, Columbia should get a fare share of credit by pouring tons of money into the area. When I moved here in 2000 the area was already on the up and up but really hit its stride when Columbia went on a building spree. They built three buildings within one block of my apartment which really raised the bar for this immediate area. But wait, there's more! Soon Columbia will begin construction on an entire new campus on the far west edge of Harlem called Manhattanville. This will really push the entire area much higher and bring a lot of opportunity to those that live here now.

yummyfajitas 18y ago

The outcome for morningside heights is positive, but I see no reason to believe it is related to Columbia. Columbia didn't improve morningside, Rudy+good economy improved all of NYC. As for the work skills of the poor, there are 7.7 million working poor, compared to 24.2 million poor adults. "Working poor" == "in the labor force (working or seeking work) 27 weeks/year or more". So less than 1/3 of poor adults spent at even half the year working or trying to work. As for children, it may or may not help. It's not obvious to me that a good school can overcome the effects of a bad parent. Sources for my figures: http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2005.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2005.pdf http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServer/2006-SUM.pdf?docID=7722 http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServer/2006-SUM.pdf?... (Yes, I subtracted 2006 numbers from 2005 numbers, but I expect they didn't change much between years.)

siculars 18y ago
I actually live in Morningside Heights, and not the part that had always been good. IMHO, a lot of the progress in New York can be directly attributed to Rudy and his team. They really cleaned up this place. Nevertheless, Columbia should get a fare share of credit by pouring tons of money into the area. When I moved here in 2000 the area was already on the up and up but really hit its stride when Columbia went on a building spree. They built three buildings within one block of my apartment which really raised the bar for this immediate area. But wait, there's more! Soon Columbia will begin construction on an entire new campus on the far west edge of Harlem called Manhattanville. This will really push the entire area much higher and bring a lot of opportunity to those that live here now.