A Letter to the Editor arrived in our newsroom the other day criticizing the City of Plattsburgh for short-sightedness and implying that the current administration is concentrating too hard on shoring up finances and leaving the long term to chance.
That's a viewpoint that has been expressed by some people looking at Plattsburgh, particularly by Democrats, who naturally want to gain predominance in City Hall. While Mayor Donald Kasprzak has made the financial predicament of taxpayers the prime focus of his time in office, there is no question that future prosperity is on people's minds -- his, too, no doubt. His emphasis on making Plattsburgh affordable for all residents is a matter of priorities: If people have to live elsewhere because of high taxes, the future won't look any rosier than the present.
Nevertheless, mayoral priorities are, of course, a matter of legitimate public debate. What caught our attention in this particular letter was the denigration of Plattsburgh by a comparison with Burlington, Vt. "Look across the lake to Burlington and what it has become, with its cultural, educational and civic progressiveness. This could be you, Plattsburgh!" the writer scolded.
This too-frequent criticism of Plattsburgh because it hasn't lived up to the city 12 miles across Lake Champlain is unfair and unavailing. Burlington is more than twice as big as Plattsburgh and is the fulcrum of its state. Plattsburgh hardly enjoys Burlington's stature in the roster of cities in its own state.
Burlington's population in 2000 was almost 39,000; Plattsburgh's was not quite 19,000. Burlington is the biggest city in Vermont, by far. (Here is an interesting piece of trivia: Burlington is the smallest city in America to be the biggest city in its state.) New York has 61 cities, and 30 of them are bigger than Plattsburgh.
When the governor of New York or either of the two U.S. senators come to Plattsburgh, it's likely to make front-page news. The governor of Vermont and the state's two U.S. senators practically make Burlington their headquarters. Burlington is Vermont's New York City.
The state university and the largest medical center in the state are in Burlington. Plattsburgh State is one of 64 two- or four-year state campuses, and, while CVPH is a fixture of which Plattsburgh is proud, it is far from New York state's largest hospital.
The resources Burlington has at its disposal far exceed Plattsburgh's, which only in recent years has recognized that one feature the two cities have in common -- the shoreline of Lake Champlain -- was an asset to be exploited, not ignored.
Plattsburgh has grown in many ways over the past decade, but comparing it unfavorably with Burlington does it a grave injustice for so many reasons. It is like saying Vermont suffers by comparison with New York state.
Say Plattsburgh is misallocating its attentions, if that is your view, but do not say it is failing because it is not neck-and-neck with Burlington. Burlington, a wonderful city without question, had a giant head start.
Opinion
July 1, 2008
EDITORIAL: Comparison with Burlington unfair to Plattsburgh
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