Why Philadelphia should leave PA and join NJ
Mergers and hostile takeovers benefit businesses; it's time to let ailing Camden and hungry Philadelphia do the same, argues Richardson Dilworth of Drexel U.
Why Philadelphia should leave PA and join NJ
Joseph N. DiStefano
"The city, state and federal officials who represent Philadelphia should approach elected officials in New Jersey with a plan to redraw the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border so that Philadelphia becomes part of New Jersey," writes Drexel University professor Richardson Dilworth (namesake grandson of the reforming 1950s Philadelphia mayor) in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy here (scroll to Publications).
After 318 years - why should Philadelphia switch?
For power, and money: As in-state neighbors "Philadelphia and Camden can be consolidated into a single city," easing Camden's dependence on its decrepit tax base and fat state subsidies (as my colleague Matt Katz shows here).
And don't stop at today's city lines, says Dilworth. Consolidation should also add "some of their New Jersey suburbs... starting, say, with Pennsauken, then Collingswood, then Merchantville, then Woodlyne, and so on - until there were enough higher-income communities added to compensate for the tax burden of Camden, yet not so much that their residents would have the clout to stop the consolidation," especially if their votes were pooled, in a single election, with pro-merger Camden voters.
What about the children? Suburban schools would be reorganized as locally-controlled charter schools, Dilworth says.
And the politicians? New Jersey's typically dominant Democrats would gain all those Philadelphia Democratic voters. Pennsylvania Republicans would be glad to get rid of them. And Philadelphia would win more clout as nearly one-fifth of New Jersey than it suffers in its current stepchild status as less than one-eighth of Pennsylvania.
Sounds "outlandish", as Dilworth admits. Yet mergers, even hostile takeovers, are "standard practice for private firms, which routinely play states and municipalities against one another in order to extract the greatest benefits of locating" one place versus another.
"In suggesting Philadelphia move to New Jersey, I am merely sugesting that cities act more like private firms," to cut expenses, eliminate waste, and boost returns to owners and services to customers - the citizen-residents.
Don't we need Congress to change State lines? As recently as 2001, Dilworth notes, the House of Representatives voted to move the Utah-Nevada border to allow prosperous West Wendover, Nevada, to absorb ailing Wendover, Utah. In the previous century the federal government adjusted the border between Chester County, Pa., and New Castle County, Del., among other boundaries.
The key to actually moving Philadelphia into New Jersey, Dilworth concludes, "is structuring the proposal so that it beneifts a majority of the relevant stakeholders and decision-makers at local, state and national levels." So it could benefit residents, too.
- You guys can keep Camden. Even have the Jersey Shore cast. And in return, we will give you guys.... Well, we dont have much to offer you guys either.
— clever - ridiculous
- ... It is nearly impossible to change state lines. What he doesn't tell you is that the plan to redraw the NV/UT state line fell through and never happened. The "12 mile circle" that forms the PA/DE border has been in place since before the signing of the Declaration of Insdependence. If it was re-drawn, I believe it was only a miniscule change to reflect a change in course of the Brandywine Creek. And NJ and Delaware have battled in the Supreme Court three times over changing the state boundary line from the Jersey side of the river to the middle of the river, and yet the state line is still where it was 300 years ago. This is an outlandish idea that has no chance of ever happening.— Whodini
- Philadelphia and Camden should get together and form their own third world nation.— towman
so take one financially unstable city and merge it with another, but one with more crime? uhhhh- Whodini you proved one of Prof Dilworth's points: The federal gov't can indeed change state lines. By the way the DE-PA dispute had nothing to do with Brandywine Creek. It had to do with a triangle of land that ran deep along the MD-DE border, and was finally transferred to DE from PA.— distefj
- Wow. I moved out of NJ, because the property taxes were too high and getting higher all the time and the public schools were terrible. NJ can have Philadelphia, it will reduce my tax burden for all the money the state pays into the Philadelphia for schools, etc. The plan to annex camden and all the towns to the east is social engineering at it's worst with no regard to the impact on the people's lives being played with. The author should be ashamed for suggesting it.— lostInPhilly
- Only good part would be having Christie as Governor to come in and boot out the useless fools that run this city— bobg1812
- We will give you one Chester for your one Camden...Oh will that mean that we will have better highways???— Jerryiz
- Great idea! Brilliant! Prof Dilworth were education was worth the money you did not spend. How about you throw in Chester City with the deal?— junethe4th
- ... So we would take over the burden of Camden with its horrible crime, poverty and poor schools! When we already have our own problems. Besides our real estate taxes and car insurance would go up. New Jersey taxes are outrages.— zippy1346
- This is too good to be true! The ultimate Christmas gift for every tax payer in Pa.Adios Philly, remember, no come backs.— hawk
- Yeah, Pa couldn't do without Philly, fool. — mike l
- I remember his grandfather, and I'm afraid something's been lost from the gene pool.— gershon
- Philly Magazine did a story years ago, which essentially said the NJ should be split down the middle and South Jersey becomes part of PA and North Jersey joins New York. South Jersey has more in common with us. Heck, then we'd have our own beaches.— mike l
