The New York State Legislature draws a lot of (justified) flak for its dubious ethics and overspending, with the latter widely seen as driving up costs for the private sector and driving out business. The recent U.S. Census figures, however, show the Capital Region as a bright spot for population growth, and this is the very region where former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and (to a lesser extent) Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have poured in aid for high-tech nanotech research and private-sector jobs.
Even the cities of the Capital Region have apparently reversed decades of population decline, as opposed to cities in the western part of the state which continue to free fall. Schenectady is the region's fastest-growing city, which reflects the bipartisan, corporatist approach that led to the state's creation of the Metroplex Development Authority in 1998, as well as encouragement of Guyanese-American immigration. Susan Savage's "Miracle of Schenectady" campaign slogan in a Senate race last year was widely mocked and didn't help her win (nor did it help that she was running against the foremost creator of Metroplex, Sen. Hugh Farley), but she had a point.
Schenectady County had the second fastest growth rate to the region's perennial leader, Saratoga County. While that might seem an argument against the corporatist model, given the low-tax conservative rhetoric of the No. 1 county's Republican leaders, the situation is more complicated than that. Saratoga, much of which was in Bruno's district, was a prime target of his largess (Global Foundries being the No. 1 exhibit). But the fundamental reason for Saratoga County's growth is a massive government project dating from the 1960s -- construction of the toll-free Adirondack Northway (I-87).
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