'Home' in York

Towson University film professor Brian Plow teaches in Maryland, but he lives in York. He followed the city's quest for a baseball stadium with more han casual interest. He became intrigued by a process that brought a major piece of urban redevelopment to the downtown, but with a price that 15 property owners were displaced using eminent domain. His curiousity eventually led to "Home," a documentary about the residents who lived in the neighborhood that was replaced by the stadium. Plow finished the film last year and had a screening in York in the fall. On Friday, the Capitol Theatre will host another screening, and Plow will be on hand to answer questions and participate in a panel discussion with Blanda Nace, Kim Bracey and Cameron Texter. The movie starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by donation; bring a canned good for the York County Food Bank.

The movie highlights several issues related to the work of YorkCounts, including the concentration of poverty and having a strong urban core. What do you think about how economic development happens in York?

- Dan Fink

A York mention in the Wall Street Journal

Here's the headline from an article today's Wall Street Journal:
Many Smaller Cities Dodge Crunch in Consumer Lending

The story looks at data from Equifax and Moody's related to mortgages and home-equity, credit-card, auto and student loans. York shows up at No. 8 in the accompanying chart of the cities where consumer loan balances have grown the most. The numbers suggest that big cities and rural areas have been hurt the most by tighter consumer lending, but mid-sized cities like York have done OK because of "more disciplined economic-development strategies in those cities, more diverse employment and lower costs." Those are all things that show up in the YorkCounts Indicators Report.

For the full story, click here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123837422461168013.html#mod=rss_Page_One

- Dan Fink

YDR takes closer look at Indicators

York Daily Record editor Jim McClure will take a look at some of the new YorkCounts indicators in a series of posts on his Town Square blog. His first post went up Saturday and deals with York County's tobacco use, tying it back to York County's history as a major cigar manufacturing area throughout the 19th century and into the early part of the 20th century.

Relaunching the YorkCounts blog

Hello, fans of YorkCounts.

The blog has been quiet since Beau Boughamer left in the fall, so there's lots of stuff going on that you might not have heard much about. I'll try to post once or twice a day with different things, usually with an eye on updates about YorkCounts' various projects or to talk up good government issues.

I'll use Twitter and Facebook to spread the word about YorkCounts, so keep an eye out for that.

Thanks for tuning in.
Dan