The loss of 1,200 jobs in the Syracuse area dealt by Carrier last week feels like the last deadly blow to a city long past its heyday.

But was it?

Some are starting to argue that Syracuse is a city in transition. In its glory days, Syracuse manufactured for Carrier (which was once headquartered here), General Motors and General Electric. Now, it is a city embroiled in an identity crisis.

Despite what politicians may say, no tax incentive will change Carrier’s mind. Their focus is on the bottom line, and labor is unfortunately cheaper overseas. But what the city of Syracuse can now do is embrace change. Yes, we’ll have a Carrier Dome without Carrier, but the city must evolve.

Here’s how:

The city needs to stop dragging its feet in development. While the new super-mall DestiNY USA may not solve all the problems, it will bring in much-needed jobs to the area in construction as well as retail employment. On the other hand, the city also needs to concentrate on smaller businesses that are starting up in the city by catering to them the same way they’ve catered to Carrier – by offering huge tax incentives.

Furthermore, the city needs a new approach to combating crime, akin to New York City mayors Rudy Giuliani’s and MIchael Bloomberg’s sweeping crime reductions in the Big Apple. Hopefully, Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll can do the same in Syracuse. No one wants to live or work in an unsafe town. If the mayor wants businesses, he’ll have to clean up the streets and make downtown Syracuse feel less like old Detroit and more like a respectable place to work.

However, that said, there are a lot of positive signs of improvement. As former President Bill Clinton noted in his commencement speech in May to the SU community, ‘there’s a big difference between the trend lines and the headlines.’

The headline may be that Syracuse lost 1,200 jobs, but the trend line is that the county as well as Syracuse may be better off economically then the headlines lead us to believe.

‘The really interesting thing is that there is regular attention drawn to corporations leaving and from what I understand is that there are small businesses starting up and growing,’ said Jeffrey Stonecash, the chair of the political science department at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Evolution isn’t always easy. And there’s no doubt that the loss of those manufacturing jobs will be painful to all of the families involved.

But the trend line is that Syracuse – believe it or not – is a place of promise. If Syracuse can successfully reinvent itself, the headlines may start to reflect the positive trends.

Brian Oppenheim is a sophomore magazine major. E-mail him at bjoppenh@syr.edu.

Published on October 13, 2003 at 12:00 pm