CRIMINALIZATION AND DEINDUSTRIALIZATION

BY STUDENT

Deindustrialization is the process in which factories, manufacturing plants, and the general industrial capacity of a region declines. This process mostly took place during the late 19thcentury, but continues to this day- since 2001, the US has lost 42,400 factories. (Mccormack 2009).In this post I am going to talk about the effects of deindustrialization in my hometown Schenectady, New York, and how after its deindustrialization, criminal activity and violence became an issue. How did Schenectady, a small city in upstate New York become deindustrialized, and how did this affect the city itself?

Schenectady was a central location in the development of the electrical industry. It was the site of the GE Research lab, the first industrial research lab in the world, and Schenectady was known as, “The city that Lights and Hauls the World” (miSci, 2012). During WWII, GE employed over 40,000 employees in Schenectady. Currently, GE employs only 4,000.

Edison GE Company, 1891.                           Edison GE Company, 1923.

Two views of State Street, 1924.

    

Carl Company Electrical Department.   Workers around a water generator wheel.

Schenectady Works, 1980.

Images from Museum of Innovation and Science, Schenectady, New York.

Between 1970 and 200, Schenectady has had a 20.7% decrease in its population. According to the Summary of socio-economic stress indicators for New York State cities, Schenectady has an above average index of social stress, with 20.78% of residents below the poverty line, 7.24% of housing units vacant, and 22.18% of adults without a high school diploma. (Anzilotti, 2016). The property value of Schenectady from 1998 to 2003 has also decreased by -11.48% (Hevesi, 2004).

Population Trends in Schenectady from 1950 to 2000.

	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000
Population	91,785	81,5682	77,958	67,972	65,566	61,821
Percent change	-11.0%	-4.6%	-12.8%	-3.5%	-5.7%

50 year percent change of -32.6%.

Table adapted from Population Trends in New York State’s Cities.

Schenectady’s economy was largely dependent on GE. As Schenectady deindustrialized and became a lower income area, white workers began to emigrate the city and its demographics changed, and it also began to be linked to crime. 

Image from Times Union.

Schenectady boasts one of the highest crime rates in New York, and its rates continue to increase. According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services there was a 7.6% increase in general crime in the city of Schenectady, and a 10.8% increase in violent crime, just between the years of 2000-2004. (Stratton, 2016).

Table from City of Schenectady Comprehensive Plan 2020

Schenectady’s history and current problems demonstrate how deindustrialization that leads to low income areas become linked to crime, and as Muhammad says, criminality was “crucial to the making of modern urban America.” (pg 272). A city with long history of being pivotal in technological discovery, its current city officials are now left trying to reinvent the city of invention.

Works cited

Anzilotti, Eillie, and CityLab. “Why 300 Vacant Buildings Will Light Up in Upstate New York.” CityLab, The Atlantic Monthly Group, 6 Oct. 2016, www.citylab.com/solutions/2016/09/breathing-lights-illuminates-blight-vacancy-upstate-new-york/502283/.

Hevesi, Alan G. “Population Trends In New York State’s Cities.” Www.osc.state.ny.us/Localgov/, Office of the New York State Comptroller Division of Local Government Series, Dec. 2004, www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/pop_trends.pdf. 

Mccormack, Richard. “The Plight of American Manufacturing.” The American Prospect, TAP, 21 Dec. 2009, prospect.org/article/plight-american-manufacturing. 

miSci. “GE Photograph Collection.” Schenectady Museum Archives and Research, MiSci, 2012. www.misci.org/archives/ge_photograph_collection.html#subjects.

Stratton, Bryan U. “City of Schenectady Comprehensive Plan 2020.” Http://Www.cityofschenectady.com, City of Schenectady, 8 June 2016, www.cityofschenectady.com/DocumentCenter/View/215/Community-Profile-PDF. 

MUHAMMAD, KHALIL GIBRAN. CONDEMNATION OF BLACKNESS: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, with a New Preface. HARVARD UNIV Press, 2019.