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.
Will Aryanization of wealth for National Efficiency and the elimination of waste be a part of the program?
Yeah, right. We should merge with Camden. Would do wonders for Philadelphia. Go back to the ivory tower.— Jim19130
Actually, rather than have Philly defect to NJ, I have a better idea. Working in concert with New York, we should mobilize the PA and NY Nat'l Guards and annex New Jersey. Make Route 195 the border between the two new parts of PA and NY.
And, oh yeah, grant statehood to Puerto Rico; that way we won't have to change Old Glory.- I'll never get the 30 seconds of my life it took for me to read this article back.— veritas1325
Comment removed.- So long as the banner changes to the New Jersey Inquirer and Will Bunch moves to the other side of the river, I'm all for it.— cb54
- Also, think of the burden of the NJ DMV-having to retrain all the Philadelphians to actually use turn signals and to keep right when not passing on the highway.— JSaq
Another good reason to move out of the city.
If not youll endure the draconian NJ gun laws....
- How could DiStefano write this article? Has he gone mad?— USAFirst1
- NJ has the highest property taxes in the nation. Ya think ppl in Philly want to pay higher property taxes? NJ and Pa have drastically different gun laws. Are Philadelphians willing to give up their current rights for the privilege of merging with NJ? FOH clown!!!— MrBigDizzle
- Dumbest article ever. I want that time back.— Vote for Dickie
Some people write articles for publication strictly because they can. They have ZERO baring on the world, and now I am actually less intelligent than when I started the article.
I wouldn't want to join NJ. However, I've been saying for years that Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties from PA, and New Castle county from DE should join and form a new state, leaving Pennsyltucky and lower-slower to die with their economic hearts ripped away.— Pelti- How would Philadelphia benefit financially? Hmmm, let's see. New Jersey funds its schools, roads, and transit MUCH better than PA does. It has the best public schools in the nation. I would gladly pay higher property taxes (mine are under $1K) if it meant I didn't have to leave the city when my kid turns 5. As a state, New Jersey has the most productive economy in the nation per person - for every $1 of federal benefits NJ gets, it contributes $1.60 or so - higher than any state, much higher than PA's $1 for $1 contribution. It is an economic engine. Meanwhile, Philadelphia just keeps getting worse - subsidizing Pennsylvania directly through the tax system and indirectly by acting as the state's nursing home, halfway house, and welfare center. Sounds like an idea worth considering.— js5180
- Comment removed.
- It's not a good thing at all. I was using it as a measure of NJ's economic clout. NJ is a net contributor to the federal budget. Wyoming, for example, is a net recipient. It's partly why NJ taxes are high - not because NJ is badly managed (it is, but most states are) but because it's basically floating the bill for more than it's share of the federal government.
Still, the fact that NJ is in the unfortunate position of giving handouts to the federal government is proof that its economy is solid, which for you and me means jobs. Taxes aren't as bad as unemployment, are they?— js5180 - Comment removed.
- I lived in NJ for 40 years and nothing that you are saying rings true. I moved to PA because the taxes were lower, the services were better and public schools were superior. Maybe instead of a NJ takeover of Philadelphia, the city needs to break up into all the small towns it swallowed up during it's expansion during the 1800's when they annexed every town in Philadelphia County. — lostInPhilly
- One more thing - consolidation would effectively return Philadelphia to the status of 2nd or 3rd largest city in the US. The clout that comes with that status can not be underestimated.— js5180
- Annexation is also one way to counteract white flight. If Philly could annex everything east of the Blue Route and south of the turnpike in PA, or better yet all of PA east of 202, it would have a far healthier tax base to work from. Some of the wealthiest areas in the region are just outside the city limits, giving them many of the benefits of our Metropolis, with few of the responsibilities of city residents.— Pelti
- and this benefits philly how? ...— main liner
No self-respecting Pennsylvanian would put up with that.— gho_matt- If you even skim the article, the real point isn't switching states, it's using the switch to foster annexation. Rust belt cities as they've grown have spawned wealthy suburbs that don't contribute to the city tax base except by wage taxes, where sun belt cities have been able to re-absorb that tax base via annexation of suburbs.— Pelti
- Unfortunately, that is because the sun belt cities generally own their water supplies. Suburbs here have enough water - the state would never give them up without a fight, and they have no incentive of their own to be annexed. In the rust belt, it is advantageous to suck a city dry. In the sun belt, it is advantageous to join the city. — js5180
- The other 11.2 million residents of Pennsylvania say it is a plan worth investigating.— FletcherT
- I want no part of Camden or NJ as a whole.— balitok
- If Dilworth's thinking is typical of Drexel profs I don't think we should expect a lot from its graduates.— retroguy419
- Comment removed.
- Why would someone want 6 kids???— clever
- Speaking for all NJ resident, we will just Give you Camden for nothing.— vallymom
- 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
- Tell ya what...we'll take Campbell's Soup and the Battleship. The rest of that cesspool should be walled off like "Escape From New York"
- April Fool!— WallStreetExaminer
Why would NJ want the cesspool that is Philadelphia? Thanks but no thanks.— fgomarty- Why would Philadelphia want to become a part of NJ? Jersey's high taxes go to wealthy suburbs. They don't do cities well.
For all of the discord between Philly, Pittsburgh and 'Pennsyltucky', I'd rather live in a big PA city than any city in Jersey. Newark, Trenton and Camden make the badlands look positively vibrant.
— Here To Stay - No..No..No..! We don't need anything to do with NJ in PA!!!! Hopefully Christie will help NJ to cut it's spending. Philadelphia doesn't need Camden pulling it even further down. We have our own problems and don't need theirs.— Flagman
- Richardson: I did this...in 1965. Moved fm PA to NJ because the DELAW-
ARE EXPY (I95) took blocks between Front and Water streets off the map. All those people....GONE.
PROS: NONE
CONS: Leaving behind all that heritate/culture. (NJ has no culture
aside from Molly Pitcher).
When U order a steak sandwhich ih Jersey they ask: Do U want cheese
on it? IF I WANTED CHESSE ON IT I WOUDDA ORDERED A CHEESESTEAK....
There is just SO MUCH culture previlant in that city, that could never be duplicated in Jersey, NY, the rest of the country...in fact
the whole fkn WORLD.
tl
THE WHOLE FKN WORLD
— sophilaen
