[Kdgjhytiy]

Broome County Guy,
Sorry for the late reply - just got back from a week at Binghamton (and Greek Peak) - just doing my bit for the lower tier economy

I certainly agree with you about the tax situation in NY state - but its just another part of the abysmal NY State Goverment that the good people of NY insist on bringing back year after year. Until the stranglehold on power by the triumvirate in Albany is broken, I don't expect any changes.

I'm just disagreeing about NYC (and environs) dragging down the upstate economy - its just part of an overall trend - the upstate malaise is hitting a lot of other NE/Midwest manufacturing areas. Even if the tax situation changed - I wouldn't expect a lot of manufacturing to flow back - or if did, it would just be temporarily at the expense of some other region of the NE/Midwest...

Still - the lower tier economy is confusing - the Vestal corridor is booming more than ever - every time I go I am amazed at how the sprawl keeps spreading - and now I see some small office parks opening up - so its not just Walmart and Applebee's behind the expansion. But over the river, downtown just looks worse and worse...

As for IBM Federal Systems - I definitely remember. A lot of my friends went on to work for Lockheed Martin at the same office once it was taken over. In the end, I think IBM was just trying to take advantage of the local government - seeing if they could get some handouts. I suspect that the below average salary you can afford to offer in Binghamton still makes Binghamton an attractive place for a lot of businesses - certainly an advantage over Buffalo or Rochester...