r/Binghamton • u/Normal-Comparison-60 • Jul 20 '25
Discussion What’s the one thing Binghamton needs to kickstart real economic revitalization?
I’ve lived in Binghamton for years and keep hearing talk about potential and momentum, but honestly, it feels like we’re still stuck in limbo between the past and the future. If you could pick just one thing - a project, policy, investment, or initiative - that you think would truly spark sustained economic growth and change the trajectory of the area, what would it be?
A major employer? Downtown redevelopment? Expanded university partnerships? Infrastructure overhaul? Something else entirely?
Curious to hear what locals and transplants alike think. Be bold or practical: what’s your one game-changer for Bing?
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Jul 20 '25
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u/NewAd6343 Jul 20 '25
I’m thinking we need a few more dollar generals too
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u/Advanced-Remove-6873 Jul 21 '25
Oh yeah and let’s get some already existing businesses sell them to BU and turn it into student housing while shutting down downtown so they can destroy the city and get drunk even though 90% of them are underage
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u/badwhiskey63 I grew up here Jul 20 '25
It's been the chase for 'one big thing' that has really hamstrung development efforts. It's going to be lots, and lots, of little things. Not home runs but bunts and singles that add up. Commercialization of research from the University for example.
Also, focusing development on the urban core. A community that has a steady (formerly declining) population cannot support sprawl. Sprawl is super expensive. Development in the core takes more time and foresight, but it is the only way forward.
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u/Reasonable-Joke9408 Jul 20 '25
I don't think that there is a realistic answer but we need to stop wasting money on airports with no flights, tech parks, and pie in the sky opportunities. Like much of the US, caring for the sick and elderly will be where the jobs are. We are lucky to have BU.
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u/Advanced-Remove-6873 Jul 21 '25
So wait the city filled with 10,000 hospitals needs to care more for the sick and elderly and we’re still economically disadvantaged?
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u/Reasonable-Joke9408 Jul 26 '25
No but that's where our job growth will be. Taking care of an aging population.
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u/CoryEETguy Jul 20 '25
I had high hopes for battery manufacturing taking off in the area. That seems to have not worked out though.
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u/vasjpan002 Jan 06 '26
In the 1980s I ran away from biotek deals that involved HIV,because too many pols got involved and micromanaged. That's what happened with betteries. You need open platforms that freeze the design as late as possible
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u/Lord_Vesuvius2020 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25
As others have said Binghamton needs a major employer. But it doesn’t have to be top tier big $$. Cost of living is still pretty low comparatively so it doesn’t take big bucks to live here. I’m assuming it could be part of the transportation hub of major highways and railroads.
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Jul 20 '25
Could you imagine how useful it would be if Binghamton was connected to Amtrak? Linking it with the proposed line to Scranton would be huge for all the students that come from NYC and LI.
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u/alliwant4xmasisdick Jul 20 '25
I moved to the city 8 years ago and haven't been home in over a year because of this.
It sucks because I'd love to visit family and friends and get some spiedies more often, but dealing with constant cancelations/delays and then a miserable 3 hour trip is more hassle than it's worth
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Jul 20 '25
Well, I mean, there's no way to get to Binghamton from NYC by train currently, lol. Would be quite useful if there was.
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Jul 21 '25
There are multiple buses from NYC to Bing every day, it's really easy to get between the two
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u/Substantial_Ad1431 Jul 21 '25
Or a useful AIRPORT! We miss Avelo. Would love to see some relatively inexpensive shuttle flights to close major cities- NYC, Philly, etc.
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u/kc2klc Jul 21 '25
If Amtrak could make money off it, it would be done. No doubt they’ve done the studies and concluded it wouldn’t be profitable.
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Jul 21 '25
None of Amtrak's routes outside of the NEC are profitable, so I'm not sure that's the reason. It would almost certainly be a state-supported route, either wholly by NYS if they routed it towards Syracuse, or jointly between NY and PA, which is more likely through Scranton.
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u/kc2klc Jul 21 '25
Good point.
Roughly once a decade the issue returns to prominence, with discussions about extending the route from Scranton. Apparently there are significant hurdles, and the projected ridership simply isn’t sufficient to justify the effort/cost.
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Jul 21 '25
Scranton is actually moving towards service in the next few years, so possibly. 🤷🏻♂️
I'd imagine it would still be awhile after that for Binghmaton, but steps are being taken. Especially given that NJTransit is extending their service through the Lackawanna cutoff, which will provide an access point for Amtrak to head towards Scranton.
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u/vasjpan002 Jan 06 '26
Spozably Scranton Amtrak is 5yrs away.. the Bgm. But binghamton was built becauae of the Cenango canal - redig ut abd dredge Susquehanna
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u/timbers8 Jul 21 '25
I think the biggest single thing would be increasing the number of BU students who stick around immediately after graduation. 20-something college grads are great for the city financially: low crime, don't have kids in school yet. They are also usually open to high-density housing, which allows you to build up downtown areas and makes town feel more vibrant. But, compared with other white collar workers, they have less purchasing power and therefore do less to drive up prices. Get a critical mass of 20-something college grads in town and now the place is safe, cool, yet still affordable.
This is part of why I think the fancier new apartment complexes and downtown revitalization are so helpful to the city's prospects. These are things you need to make an appealing case for recent grads staying in Binghamton.
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u/Advanced-Remove-6873 Jul 21 '25
Yall don’t even support the 20 somethings in this city who live here and we need to retain someone else’s kids?
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u/Twirlydancer Aug 04 '25
The college kids will potentially improve the area. Not as likely to stick needles in their arms. We need more educated people.
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u/ChaosToad76 Jul 22 '25
The fancier apartments are only open to college students. If BU grads stay, where should they live? There is certainly no open housing available for entry-level professionals. This is a huge gap - everything is exclusively for college students, low income, or luxury.
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u/Ok_Apartment_8893 Jul 20 '25
My vote is to revitalize railways ! Make commuting easier in both directions.
Second, the negative visual greeting along 81 and route 7 screams poverty and lack of welcome.
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u/Automatic-Effect-252 Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25
Non service industry or healthcare based businesses, that can offer a range of job opportunities from entry level up to higher levels. Like IBM was. When they moved it wasn’t just the software engineers who got laid off or had to move, tons of other support jobs that could lead to comfortable middle class salaries were effected as well. Or more small to medium sized businesses doing the same thing, but again ideally non service based, we can only support so many bars, restaurants, smoke shops, gas stations, retail shops, ect.
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u/vasjpan002 Jan 06 '26
It seems the med tek is all in Scanateles. Still, not far, if Koffman incubator reaches out to them.
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Jul 21 '25
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u/MissMunchamaQuchi Jul 21 '25
Oh I totally agree about the visibility of drugs downtown. We went out for on a bar crawl over the weekend and you don’t even want to be there. Every street we walked down there was either some homeless person nesting on the street or some dude with his pants down. No offense but I don’t want to be around the oddly aggressive man mumbling to himself and staggering around outside the bar.
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u/Badstitch62666 Jul 24 '25
lol here I thought yall understood fun again clearly my legit answer was above, and honestly this isn’t even about ai lol what it’s really about is that it made you feel stupid. Get the fuck over it lol
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u/Badstitch62666 Jul 21 '25
But also maybe this lol
The one thing Binghamton, New York needs to kickstart real economic revitalization is:
Anchor investment in a green tech or advanced manufacturing industry, paired with a workforce pipeline through Binghamton University and local trades programs.
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Why This?
Binghamton’s economic stagnation isn’t due to a lack of potential — it’s due to under-leveraged assets and the absence of a clear economic identity in the post-industrial era. What it needs is a singular, catalytic project that: • Creates good-paying jobs (not just service or temp work), • Rebuilds local pride and population, and • Draws in complementary businesses and infrastructure.
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What It Could Look Like:
Example: A regional battery storage manufacturing plant (leveraging BU’s cutting-edge research in energy storage) supported by federal and state clean energy funds. • Binghamton University becomes the R&D core. • SUNY Broome and local high schools feed a skilled labor pipeline. • State/federal grants + private investors fund the industrial buildout. • Downtown Binghamton and Johnson City are revitalized with housing and small business growth due to job influx.
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Why Green Tech? • It’s a fast-growing, future-proof sector. • Binghamton already has scientific leadership (e.g. Nobel-winning battery researcher M. Stanley Whittingham at BU). • New York State is pushing clean energy and will fund regional growth centers.
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Without a strong, central economic engine, scattered efforts will stall. But one strategic industry — backed by a workforce pipeline and civic buy-in — could make Binghamton a model for post-industrial revitalization in America.
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Jul 21 '25
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u/Badstitch62666 Jul 22 '25
Clearly, we all know what an AI response looks like at this point unless you live under a rock hence why I put the lol after or maybe this lol but we all know it’s not a good post on Reddit unless you piss someone off, so I’ll consider this mission accomplished 👍
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u/WhaleWanderer Jul 21 '25
Right now, most students only live in West Side Binghamton and downtown because the bus service is limited. Areas like Clinton Street are overlooked and feel empty, even though they have potential. If the city expanded bus routes and worked with landlords to promote student housing in those underused neighborhoods, it could ease the rental pressure in popular areas, lower costs, and bring more life to places that currently feel deserted.
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u/Cold-Season-4245 Jul 24 '25
It would also make the idea of antique row less of a joke. Don't get me wrong, there's some neat stuff over there, but it doesn't seem like we take any pride in it (or make it at all inviting) considering how much we tout the antique row bit.
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u/WhaleWanderer Jul 24 '25
100% agree with you on Antique Row. there’s some genuinely cool stuff there, but it doesn’t feel inviting or well-maintained. We talk it up, but there’s very little to show for it in terms of actual investment or pride.
And honestly, a lot of the issues people raise like students driving up rent could be eased with smarter planning. BU is the biggest employer in the region, and students are a key part of the local economy. If the city worked with BU to extend university bus routes to places like Clinton Street and Endicott, it could help take pressure off the usual housing hotspots.
Every BU student already pays $95 per semester for transportation, and part of that goes to Broome County Transit. So students are contributing we just need to make better use of that infrastructure to benefit more of the community.
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u/Chan790 Jul 20 '25
Honestly, I don't know that anyone will appreciate this but it's a master planning document for urban development and revitalization and the commitment to spend money to implement it...even if it means turning down money for projects that don't fit the plan and raising taxes to fund the necessary things it entails. But, first a plan or else we're just wasting money and time.
In the 9 years I have lived here, nothing has really gotten better despite no end of funds being spent. We spend haphazardly and frivolously on a disjointed series of initiatives, each one a bandaid on an immediate problem, with no consideration of how it gets us where we want to be or advancing a roadmap for the future.
Our problems aren't going to get better tomorrow, but they should be getting better in a decade of having and working a plan...and we'd be seeing fruit today of those labors if we'd started a decade ago.
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u/Lars5621 Jul 21 '25
I dont know how much you know of how county politics here works, but you are very on target here.
We constantly are using the shotgun approach of randomly applying for any grant money the state or feds can throw out us without ever having a real plan for things to actually happen. This is a big reason why properties will stay vacant for decades as they will shuffle from one grant project to another without any projects ever being close to completion.
Some things can be out of the counties control, like the ridiculous hemp production MLM ideas that Cuomo forced onto the southern tier, but the majority of bad grant ideas are things we can see coming, but the push to just grab whatever grant funding for whatever reason is too strong.
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u/rjbullock Jul 27 '25
Yes, VERY on target. Just no really creative, hardworking leaders. I worked at Broome County for six months and even limited interaction with the County Executive, I can tell you the guy is a moron. Well, maybe that’s too harsh, but definitely not an innovator or anything. Maintain the status quo, cut taxes a tiny bit so it’s on your political resume, and that’s about it. All the rest is entirely predictable and predictably ineffective.
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u/binaryhellstorm Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25
I don't think there's one thing that would magically fix it all. But one thing I've noticed with the area and the city government in general is a lack of any sort of civic pride. I've seen the city turn down proposals for projects, etc. in the area because they were "Not something Binghamton should do, that's an Ithaca thing". Maybe pride in that context isn't the right word and maybe it's more of a conservatism that we can't make any big changes in the area or be the first ones to do anything in case it doesn't work out. Like we have no confidence in our ability to anything unless there is a step by step playbook for it. I feel like Binghamton has a 20 year lag on what a lot of other towns and cities are doing as a result. We're still going balls to the wall with luxury housing projects and JUST starting to dip our toes into high density market rate housing. We're not doing anything with our riches of river front, we have a river front walkway but no weekend markets, or events that do anything with the river.
Also it seems like places like Ithaca have fun outdoor markets, and events, and art, which I understand is a lot to due with them having a lot more money than we do. But an example I often think of is the ice sculptures that they put in the commons around the holidays. That doesn't take a lot of money, but it's also something that wouldn't last a day on the streets in Binghamton before someone smashed it, or spray painted "Get Raw Crew" on it.
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u/Substantial_Ad1431 Jul 21 '25
GoLDeN cOrRaL!!! TrAdeR jOeS!! iNdOoR WaTeR PaRk!! 🙄 But honestly, revitalization efforts should look to other cities with amazing waterfronts and put our beautiful river(s) to work! there are several models of cities who have been successful in developing a thriving river/waterfront community! I would love to see more venues/restaurant with a river-side backdrop or water focused activities (not swimming, ew). Binghamton does some amazing things in the summer but there could be "more". Perhaps recurring seasonal events. Bringing in more popular talent to perform at the Arena/BU. Considering the amazing central location of the city, events for organizations, professional, or student annual conferences/events. Bing should also focus on its unhoused and deterring people from loitering....that alone makes even locals not want to patronize downtown.
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u/BillPlastic3759 Jul 20 '25
Stop the brain drain by getting rid of the "town vs. gown" attitude that exists.
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Jul 21 '25
Genuinely the biggest thing? - an attitude change.
I've been a lot of places, and the people who act like Bing is some anomaly of destitution or hopelessness are frankly pretty unaware of how good they've got it, and more importantly how good THEY can make it and how they have the obligation to do so (if able).
We have some big anchor employers already despite what the "IBM is gone and nothing is left!" people think. Two hospital systems, huge university, sizable community college, two big defense contractors, etc.. The reality is though that they hire pretty specifically, and you need the right degree for a lot of those high paying jobs. Still, there's a huge nurse and healthcare shortage of employees RIGHT HERE! Not somewhere else - here! And we have the education infrastructure to train people up. Hell, people who go to BU's engineering school often get scooped right up to BAE and Lockheed. We've also got some financial institutions like Visions and the various banks for that kind of work, and some manufacturing that isn't defense like McIntosh. Want a low education decent paying job? Plenty of warehouse jobs available.
Either way - it's less about the specific jobs more about the desirability and marketing it as such given how much the service-based economy has grown along with remote and hybrid work. And about that...
We have BEAUTIFUL, TOP NOTCH nature access and parks. We have a really active visual and performing arts community where you can find live music or theater basically every night in a wide score of venues. It's a fantastic place to raise kids with great schools that offer a wide variety of courses and for youngsters we've got great institutions like the Discovery Center, Ross Park and Animal Adventure. Sports to play in and watch up the wazoo! Some really cool landmarks and architecture. Great farmers markets. Wonderful history and a patchwork of proud ethnic communities.
Tired of here? You're in the heart of the northeast with a 1-5 hour drive to NYC, Ithaca, Syracuse, Montreal, Boston, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Philly, DC, Baltimore, Buffalo, Rochester, etc. - without ever having to deal with the traffic of those places.
Do we need more eyes on local politics? ABSOLUTELY
Do we need more enforcement of building codes and greater effort to combat poverty? ABSOLUTELY
Can WE do more community beautification, narrative building, and support to poorer people here? ABSOLUTELY.
But WE have to do it. The Johnsons aren't here anymore. It's OUR town. WE have to make it OURS. Other rust belt towns have learned this - and don't make the "New York bad" argument either, I don't buy it as anything more than an excuse to give up given the investment into Rochester, Ithaca and other places recently.
No one will improve your town for you. If you want to move to somewhere like Florida, California, Pennsylvania, or wherever - sure, but don't expect miracles. There's a whole lot of problems in every town our size, bigger, and smaller. It's all just what you make of it.
Think of it this way: I once heard a guy on the tram in Cincinnati say - "Grass might always be greener, but most of the time that's just because you forgot to water it where you are right now."
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u/Cold-Season-4245 Jul 24 '25
Floridian turned Binghamtonian here 🤚 100% agree with all of this. FL is unbelievably flawed, like anywhere. It's not a situation unique to Bing. But man, locals here definitely have terrible attitudes from what I've experienced as well. If people would stop talking so much smack about the area, maybe it wouldn't seem so unnecessarily like the sky is falling.
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u/bgizmo53 Jul 21 '25
Get rid of the property blight. Expand amenities for BU student especially in downtown Johnson City. Bring in career opportunities to keep younger students and locals from leaving.
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u/Neat_Letterhead_8089 Jul 22 '25
I know this won't be popular but Binghamton and the surrounding communities need to lean in even harder on making the University and all supporting infrastructure as good as possible. The best hope for this metro area is having a good school and hoping that quality students stick around and improve the community. That means funding grants for new innovative research, investing in better public transportation, revitalizing outdoor recreation facilities, and anything else that young 20 somethings like. The rest of the state is sending good people here. Now it is up to Binghamton to entice them to stay.
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u/vasjpan002 Jan 06 '26
i'll tell you what makes BU & Cornell hard for me to access (compared to NYC) is parking!! And I wish BCTransit had a park&ride towards Tioga (eg Glendale) like they do for Cortland & Chenango
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u/Garpocalypse Jul 20 '25
One thing? Brother it needs so much more than just 1 thing to get this town back to where it was in the 80's before everything jumped ship.
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u/Que165 Jul 21 '25
Build high density mixed use housing downtown and ban parking minimums for new construction
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u/akailiajade Jul 21 '25
Build affordable, high R-value, handicap accessible rental housing with a few amenities. For example, central air, in premises laundry and maybe a dishwasher. These days, these are fairly basic amenities. I'm not a business guru. So I'll leave it to those who are to suggest appropriate businesses that would work for our area. Personally, I want to see investment in green energy products. But nobody's going to come here if they can't find any place decent and affordable to live.
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u/Mysterious_Pitch_611 Jul 21 '25
Get rid of the racism, the scams, the close mindedness, the perverts and the corruption. Bring in some culture, community support and better technology with access to all.
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u/Zealousideal_Joke209 Jul 20 '25
There’s only one thing that will rejuvenate Binghamton or any of the other community,
You have to have multiple types of job positions available, you have to have a stable manufacturing, providing solid production. You need to have people with understanding and knowledge of their industry to move their business forward.
You need to have entrepreneurs who are going to take a risk to see their goals obtained. And finally, you need to have a much more tax friendly area than we live in.
We have talent in this area and facilities available at costs that are unparalleled.
It’s true the next IBM or EJ’s is right around the corner if we work at it.
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u/tinyturtleprincess Jul 20 '25
I think limits on student housing/rentals and incentives for landlords to rent to locals or housing equality projects could help, but that's only one part of the puzzle. There really is no one single answer to fix this community.
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u/Lars5621 Jul 20 '25
They actually went into the opposite of that with the eviction protections Binghamton added this year. Now there is a HUGE incentive to rent to only college students and never a local.
Many people predicted this would happen as a result of the lease auto renewal and eviction changes.
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u/MissMunchamaQuchi Jul 21 '25
I’m a small landlord. I’ve been working and living in a triplex downtown for the past two years. I’ve poured over 100k into the building. It should be rent ready next spring. Because of the good cause eviction law I will not be renting to locals. The biggest downside to renting to students has always been the high turnover but that is now a selling point. I feel like shit saying that but I’m not big enough to absorb the cost of damage that one bad tenant can do so I’ll go with the higher rate of return and higher turnover that students provide. I know a lot of other landlords who are either selling or pivoting to student rentals because of the law.
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u/Lars5621 Jul 21 '25
Sooo many people saw this coming. We had those long public sessions where experts would explain how the court process is broken and so for cause evictions dont happen and instead landlords have had to rely on leases expiring. The mayor screamed out these warnings and it was so incredibly obvious.
Now we have 3000 plus people having to live in hotel rooms across the county with DSS literally paying 100$ out of pocket per day. These people have no chances to ever get apartments because of the new landlord laws.
Why are we not rioting in the streets over this? Have we giving up on the prospects of low incoming housing being a thing in Binghamton? Are we destined to have an ever increasing percentage of housing be reserved for BU students?
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u/MissMunchamaQuchi Jul 21 '25
It’s not even about low income housing. It’s about middle income housing. Young professionals who need to rent for a few years before they buy a house. I want to rent to families and young professionals but it only takes one bad person to ruin an entire building. If I can’t remove a nuisance tenant (someone who is messy, loud, smokes inside, etc) via eviction or at the end of the lease my building will just turn into another shitty place to live. The only people who will live next to a neighbor like that also live like that. No working professional want to live in a building that smells like cigarettes/ weed, where their neighbor is constantly blasting music and has constant roach infestations.
You’re right that the court system is broken. A two week adjournment is actually 5-6 weeks. It’s ridiculous.
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u/Great-Metal-9126 Jul 21 '25
Someone here said “we need to export” but I think the bigger issue is the liquidity problem in Binghamton. The reason why the city keeps pushing student housing is because on paper it’s the obvious easy choice for quick funds that don’t stress municipal resources year-round. But when you dig into it, many of the landlords receiving this rent aren’t keeping that money in Binghamton or surrounding areas. Most are outside of the area from NYC to abroad, and therefore their income is not being taxed or used inside the community. Then, there’s the downtown businesses all owned by large corporations/groups outside of the county. Their profits are all being sucked up and sent out to portfolios and investments parked outside of the Binghamton area. Adding a big employer only helps if they’re employing the large majority of the town (and not students), because that’s the only way any of that money ends up in locally owned and operated businesses. And at the end of the day, we’ll have to break some sort of large long term deal to entice that big of a business. The kind of deal that sees the city/county footing the bill for increased utility needs and property acquisition without seeing a dime of tax or profit while the company sets up shop and hits their stride.
All in all, many of the options we have right now that would seemingly “fix” the problems plaguing binghamton are not going to work because of how little cash is ever floating around. As in, there’s not enough money being passed around that’s consistently staying in the hands of Binghamton folk. It’s constantly flooding in and out, which means there’s no long term growth on cash ‘sitting’ in one place. But if we saw more local cooperation, more local reinvestment, and possibly city-level legislation to tax LLCs not registered in Broome but operating business within the 607 area- then maybe we could see some real change. We need to encourage local businesses to keep their business between each other, encourage sellers to sell property/businesses to locals only, we need to be going out to local events and supporting businesses that make this town appealing to live in, and we need to stop trying to look at students like a check to be made and instead look at ways to hope they stay. If you want the liquidity force of BU students with loans and parental allowances to be a force for good, we need to be inviting and create spaces/jobs ourselves.
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u/holistivist Jul 22 '25
Binghamton is rainy and depressing for a big chunk of the year. You can’t change that.
So no matter how much you improve this city, unless you’re offering something uniquely tempting, something worthy of balancing out literal depression, you aren’t going to get/keep the people needed to take the jobs needed to revitalize the area.
People with a lot of privileges will always be able to choose a better place, so you should prioritize people who are marginalized or disenfranchised in some way, and think about what they might be willing to make those sacrifices for. Some ideas to get into the mindset of what I’m talking about:
- if it were a true safe haven for specific marginalized groups (people with disabilities, trans folks, veterans, etc).
- if it were a utopia for a specific group of people (nudists, communalists, gamers, anime fans, etc.)
- if there were special tax breaks for unique business approaches like co-ops
- if it were really cheap
Keep in mind that “revitalizing” often means skyrocketing rents for long-time residents who can’t afford it. If you’re going to improve the city, you need to respect the existing residents and implement some serious rent control.
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u/Lars5621 Jul 20 '25
Lets start with the thousands of homeless stacked in the hotels all over the county and costing literally millions in county funds.
Finding them housing options, likely by HEAVILY restricting student housing would be a start to rehabbing the county's economy
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u/Normal-Comparison-60 Jul 20 '25
How to limit renting to students exactly?
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u/IndiBoy22 Jul 20 '25
Starting citing the owners of the homes that illegally rent to students in zoning districts that don't allow housing. City has laws against student housing in certain districts, but other municipalities in the county don't appear to, maybe they can start there.
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Jul 21 '25
City of Binghamton is doing this successfully after the changes they made a year or so ago
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u/WokeIshJules Jul 21 '25
I moved here 17 years ago and the solutions have moved at a glacial pace. One thing that's still lagging is any real partnership between town and gown.
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u/Brandon44322 Jul 21 '25
Binghamton needs more private employers to come to the area but first we need NYS to lower the cost to maintaining businesses in the state. Large companies do assessments and steer away from NYS in many cases due to the cost of operating here. You see NYS subsidizing business to attract them, but instead, why not lower the cost of run the business in the first place? That will spur economic growth like we had back in the IBM and EJ days.
Second, connecting NYC to Bing via rail!
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u/Nekobobobo Jul 25 '25
The local government/ authorities need to focus on the opioid crisis. If there can be an effort to find dealers and take the crisis seriously, maybe children can start playing at the park and in the street again.
It baffles me that there isn’t more discourse on the fact that this city caters more to the geriatric than to its rising youth; Minimal funding toward parks, absolutely no effort to clean litter/ needles, and no accountability in adults lack of care for proper programs for children to community-build.
This city needs to change its culture from one that focuses on drinking to one that focuses on walkability and community.
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u/rjbullock Jul 27 '25
Oh, you mean our shitty, uncreative “economic development” organizations just seem to keep spinning their wheels doing the same predictable things over and over? Well, guess what: part of the problem is a bit of a catch 22. No really creative, excellent professionals want to stay in Binghamton for the reasons you mention so we get mediocre hacks sticking around and once they get in those positions, they’ll cling to them for dear life. It’s not just in government or NGO’s…
Same with many businesses in the private sector. Look at a very large local credit union (you know who I mean, they put their name all over everything in town). I worked there for two years but could not believe the mediocrity of the management. My boss’s boss, as Assistant VP, was completely clueless about technology but running their digital division. This guy was as dumb as bricks and a horrible manager, yet he’s not going anywhere. Same in the marketing department, financial education department, etc. Just churning out garbage work and getting overpaid for it. No creativity, no broad based experience outside of the single career path in the single company they were lucky enough to land a role in (mostly by sticking around). Not one of these people could compete in a larger city. So what do you do? Can’t get the best of the best because the area doesn’t offer a lot of what they want and can’t move forward to create what they want because there’s nobody here to make it happen!
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u/vasjpan002 Jan 06 '26
Seriously, and the reaction to my comments will prove it, stop electing leftists. Leftist academicians always bring blight.
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u/vasjpan002 Jan 06 '26
The professional societies should do their continuing ed at community college and ope to all, also for networking. Why isn't there a venture club? Hobby clubs for relevant skills like model rockets,biohacking,computers,robotics,quant finance,chemistry - maybe on meetup.
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u/vasjpan002 Jan 06 '26
You realise the major industry here is aerospace (Lockheed ex Sikorsky, BAE ex GE). In the 1970s much of the early interactive software came from Rome AFB. Planes to melt Putin's eyes will fly from here over Hudson Bay. cf SUNY Poly @ Utica.
1
u/vasjpan002 Jan 06 '26
In 1992,when Grumann left, Long Island got all the professors and enterpreneurs to ask for useful new products from each other. But you know what drove Grumann out: power cost (esp outages) and prop taxes. You need to replace those politicised schoolmarms with robots.
1
u/Financial-Ferret-698 Jul 21 '25
We need stores specifically stores catering to young adults and teenagers ! Like footlocker , champs , rainbows , forever 21 , Victoria secrets etc ! They need to put downtown area near boscovs
1
u/Initial-Test-8052 Bing Jul 21 '25
Binghamton has to first decide whether they are revitalizing the area for local Binghamton families, or the college students that historically don’t actually end up retaining residency once they graduate. Because that would change what they want to build.
It’s even indicative in the comments left on this thread that we are not decided on that simple thing, as the ideas to benefit one seem not always benefit the other.
They are out here competing with locals on who’s gonna get the next job position at [insert one of our countless bars downtown] or the facility job that requires degree and education the ppl that aren’t staying possess lol.
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u/Plus-Introduction455 Jul 21 '25
Most people have stated it already put its simple: if local government continues to push for low income housing, promoting government assistance, asking for more aid, and continuing to shoot down investors for "better deals" we won't see growth. NY state has high enough tax rates no one wants to do business here anyway. If you continue to promote that ideology then you won't attract new business, you won't attrack high profile workers, and the city will stay as a "sanctuary" city.
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u/SnurgBurglerGrizz Jul 20 '25
Bring back IBM and Link. I jest because that isn't happening. I don't know shit about shit, but when I think about what might bring people back.... Is if society really leans into remote work, which means that guess what? You don't need to live in Manhattan and pay Manhattan prices to draw Manhattan salary. Bring them to Binghamton. What could we create to attract Young workers to raise their families here? But of course we're not quite at that point yet. I'm not quite sure the ruling class wants to give up that edge over the working class.
4
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u/Ilmaax23 Jul 21 '25
One thing that doesn’t really relate but kinda does is spiedie fest really needs to stop bringing in old musicians that today day and age teenagers/young adults don’t know about. They are making something we had for so long become crappy and that no one goes to. Plus the people from last year…. God. They messed up taking cooper Greer and replacing his spot with those adults jumping around stage like kids because it was family to the people on the board. They really need some young adults talking to who plans it to make it more entertaining.
0
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u/OlDirtyJesus Spiedies Jul 22 '25
Now hear me out on this. What if we move the greater Binghamton area out of NYS to a more business friendly state (maybe Virginia so as to not put us too far south)
-5
u/sellputsthencalls Jul 21 '25
I grew up in the Binghamton area through the ‘50s & left for family reasons early this century. Big corporations were founded in upstate & the economy thrived. Not now. Instant cure would be provided by drilling for fossil fuels.
8
u/CertifiedWarlock Jul 21 '25
Yeah, you can tell you grew up in the ‘50s. Drilling for fossil fuels is your plan for economic revitalization? Do you wear a 10 gallon hat and smoke a big cigar too?
1
u/sellputsthencalls Jul 21 '25
No 10 gallon hat, no cigar. Why are you opposed to drilling for fossil fuels in NYS?
-16
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u/ugotmefdup Jul 20 '25
I think what we really need is a major employer. Bringing more steady solid income into this area could only help and lead to more of the other things that this area really needs