Ghost Towns

GHOST TOWNS THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS of our Chamber of Commerce had met to discuss the city government's proposal to par tici pate in the federal urban renewal program. A fellow director turned to me-not in the tone of inquiry, but more to nail down his argument: "Would you stand by and see our business section become a ghost town?" The question probably was misdirected because I hap pen to be fond of ghost towns-figuratively speaking. Many features of the twenties and thirties, then alive and vibrant, are today merely ghosts of the past; and my fond ness for them arises precisely because they are ghosts. Let me explain. A livery stable, thriving at the time I was born, went out of business six years later. The auto mobile had displaced the horse. The reason why I am fond of that ghost is that its owner did not apply to Washington for livery stable renewal. The livery stable is but one of the ghosts of the past.

Ghost canals wind through Ohio and other parts of the country, no longer serving as a means of transportation. There are ghost lamp factories, ghost icebox factories, ghost streetcar tracks embedded in many city streets, ghost movie houses, and ghost back-lot rest-rooms all outdated 369 370 JOHN C. SPARKS by electric lights, modern transportation, home refrigera tion units, television, and inside plumbing. In business, there are ghosts of early office equipment awkward typewriters, hand-cranked calculating machines, and laborious duplicating facilities that would make one barely legible copy every four or five minutes-in con trast with modern electronic data processing equipment, high-speed duplicating processes, electric typewriters, and calculators. How sympathetic would we be to the efforts of yester year's officeequipment manufacturer to keep his outdated products on the market through a government renewal program? Would we deliberately preclude better quality and lower costs in the products we buy, by subsidizing obsolete business methods and facilities? Not likely, espe cially when we have a choice in a free market. Yet, in to day's changing urban areas when the owners of downtown properties attempt to salvage them through artificial and ineffective government urban renewal programs, it is as though livery stable owners of the early twenties were seeking federal aid to keep in operation the horse and buggy.

As it happened, not many livery stable owners were utterly consumed under the cruel blow of economic de feat. Many converted their buildings and operations into uses consistent with the changing consumer demand for services and products. A sign of our time is the oratorical and almost sacred crusade to save physical properties in the formerly bus tling downtown sections of our cities. Another sign, GHOST TOWNS 371 cousin of the first, is the fervent chamber-of-commerce en deavor "to bring industry to our city." I wish it understood that I enthusiastically support the owners of property who profit through the free choice of willing customers. I cheer them and admire their ability to serve mankind with their valuable products and serv ices. Particularly, my praise goes to those downtown own ers who recognize that their prosperity in the past came from economically filling the wants of their customers and who now roll with the changing times and continue to serve customers well and profitably. To these mer chants who have retained and kept up-to-date their com petitive skill-rather than running to Washington for aid-goes my genuine admiration.

I also want it known that I have pride in my own com munity, the people I know, the companies whose home offices are here, the local athletic teanlS, the hometown girl who made good in the Metropolitan Opera, the na tion's President who came from this city, the excellence of the fine arts, the theater, and other civic achievements. I want my city to have prosperous business, cultural, and recreational activities; let there be no mistake about that. But, a city prospers through strict adherence to old fashioned basic principles. If we let those principles be come ghosts, then ours is indeed a ghost town. How Cities Grow In order to obtain a clearer perspective, let us reflect on how cities got to be cities in the first place. Usually, 372 JOHN C. SPARKS there were economic benefits to be derived in the general locality: potential port facilities, crossing of two rail road lines, nearness to special raw materials, and various other factors. Some communities have numerous eco nomic assets, while others develop more precariously with a single attraction. Various mining towns of the West are "ghostly" examples of communities whose single purpose no longer exists.

A Southwestern oil town lost 90 per cent of its 25,000 population when reserves of oil in the vicinity declined. Recently, the remaining 10 per cent, the uneconomic left overs in that oil town, sought recovery of their lost prop erty values through the federal government and were awarded funds taken from others all over the country.1 Cities are not ordained to be-they are born of the eco nomic decisions of many persons who have decided to live there rather than somewhere else. These persons, one can be certain, were not selecting the locali ty on some willy-nilly, illogical basis. A job was available, business prospects were good, or a service was needed. Why else would people decide to live in a smoky, smelly industrial city? Cities have grown because there were sound eco nomic reasons for people to live there. On the other hand, the process can and does reverse itself. In some instances the raw materials simply give out.

Examples are abundant, however, where the movement toward other locations has been pushed along by the un wise actions of local citizens. Occasionally, an individual 1 "Small Towns Scra'mble To Get Slum Removal Aid from Uncle Sam," Wall Street ]ournal 7 July 3, 1961.

GHOST TOWNS 373 may act unwisely to the detriment of his community, but this is not the sort of thing that would be imitated by very many people. When whole communities act un wisely, the cause invariably may be traced to those or ganizations that have the power to coerce their fellow citizens. Governmental Forces Lead to Deterioration After thoroughly examining the possibilities, including labor union activities and the nature of union power, one may conclude that in reality there is only one organiza tion-the government itself-with the coercive powers in question here. People acting through the power of their local government (the same thing applies to states ex periencing the exodus of industry) take actions that de tract from their economic assets. Ever-increasing tax rates and new forms of taxation are common examples of un wise action. The excuse always includes the alleged grow ing needs of the community, but never explained is why the functions of police and fire protection, road main tenance, and public education forever require a higher percentage of the total wealth and earned income.

And the more the community government interferes with the private affairs of its citizens, the less effectively it fills the proper police function of protecting the life, freedom, and property of its citizens. A community may acquire a reputation as an undesirable labor market, for example, due to unruly labor organizations that success fully defy the rights of individuals-owners of industrial 374 JOHN C. SPARKS plants, other citizens, and even their own members while the police of the community do nothing to stop such unlawful practices. Thus, unwise community action makes the community economically unattractive to businesses already located there as well as to those contemplating the area for plant expansion or decentralization. People Change Communities themselves evolve; the habits and desires of the people change. It is evident that many people now find the suburbs and the countryside more to their lik ing than the city surroundings they preferred two or three decades ago. These are independent economic decisions; and merchants must react competitively if they are to continue to serve their customers well. There is no magic line (municipal corporation limit) within which exists a sacred right to a perpetually prosperous life for prop erty owners, merchants, or even city officials themselves.

Cities were a result of people coming together. Today there is a new concept of decentralized living. Further more, those who now live outside the "magic" corpora tion lines are not living without police and· fire protec tion as is sometimes implied. These services are often ob tained exactly to the extent that each property owner or resident wants and contracts for them. Shopping cen ters further illustrate self-containment, as they usually construct their own streets and sidewalks and provide police protection-not at public expense, but at the exGHOST TOWNS 375 pense of those who use them. Indeed, the evolution of shopping centers is in the direction of complete commu nity services, including the recreational and cultural, all provided by individuals through free exchange. Once a community embarks on a wrong course, it en courages the exodus of established business and popula tion and discourages the coming of new people and new industry. Increased restrictions and taxes, coupled with failure to protect life and property in the community, spell trouble ahead.

Paradoxically, the trouble feeds upon itself through the frantic adoption of fallacious remedies. Rising taxes start the decline of values and the exodus of industry and people. Then planners condemn additional properties, strangling any business life left in the community. Their sincere objective is to displace these "sub-standard" areas with "planned" modern apartments, thriving businesses, beautiful parks. And they expect the program to pay for itself through increased valuations and property taxes. They forget to explain why businesses and investors should be attracted by high taxes. The next step is to seek federal aid, which usually re quires a proportion of local matching funds. For such funds, many cities are turning to municipal income taxes, adding one more reason why people and businesses move away. Artificial Lures In recent years, ,ve have seen increasing competition between localities to lure business. One device is to prom376 JOHN C. SPARKS ise property tax exemption for ten to twenty-five years.

Sometimes the communities will construct and lease fac tory buildings at bargain rates. But businessmen tempted by such attractions might well speculate as to who will foot the bill for other newcomers after one's own com pany has had the initial "free ride." An economy based on subsidy leaves much to be desired. The distraught efforts of community leaders to save their towns from unfavorable economic decisions some times produce unusual results. One small city, having lost its largest manufacturer, sought to bolster its local econ omy by way of a federal housing project. Construction workers and supply companies may benefit temporarily, but what real reason can there be for adding to the sur plus of housing in a community that people are leaving to find jobs? Another city's leaders believe they have found a way out. Their state prohibits dog racing; so they have asked for an exception that would give them a monopoly. This could prove very profitable as a tourist attraction-until another community cries for its equal rights!

These are but samples of the ludicrous measures by which civic leaders strive to stem the receding economic tide in their home towns; and all they accomplish is to speed the decline. Government action affords no solution to the problem, unless the action be to repeal restrictions and taxes. When the promise and threat of government urban renewal hangs over a community, correct economic decisions about investments and entrepreneurhll risks are postponed, both downtown and in the suburbs.

GHOST TOWNS What of the Future? 377 Communities develop around the common economic interest of many people, and communities will change as those interests change. Attempts to start at the wrong end of the process are doomed to unhappy results. No government planner can anticipate accurately the eco nomic choices of tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year-not even for one individual, and certainly not for an entire community. The result is bound to be a ghost town economically, no matter how sturdy its physical construction from the ill-gotten federal funds. If new industry is to be attracted to an area, there must be sound economic reasons: availability of peaceful and intelligent workmen; access to raw materials and to markets; police protection of peaceful citizens and pri vate property, but otherwise a minimum of government intervention and taxation. If a community will offer these attractions, display a refreshing attitude not to meddle in business affairs, add a dash of patience, and let these facts be known, new business will come. The market place works that way.

Give me a ghost town any day in preference to ghost principles. To attempt to perpetuate artificially the eco nomic decisions of the past is to abandon sound princi ples and deny all hope for further economic progress. And the sad result will be a ghost nation.