Healthy urban areas are important national assets. As Farhad Manjoo notes in The New York Times, “… neither the United States nor the world can do without cities. They are indispensable as engines of economic growth, catalysts of technological and cultural innovation — and they are one of the most environmentally sustainable ways we know of for housing lots of people.” Unfortunately, American cities are reeling from the pandemic, and our national failure to respond well to it may have catalyzed permanent changes to where people work that will undermine urban ecosystems long after the pandemic has passed. Luckily, we have a tested means for helping cities recover: immigration.
The pandemic has caused many people to flee cities for the suburbs and beyond. Opinion leaders feel compelled to remind Americans of the downsides of suburbia while many with the resources to do so continue to vote with their feet and flee big cities. For the first time in many years rents are dropping in some dense urban centers like New York City. Moreover, the pandemic may have permanently increased the number of workers working remotely from home, allowing more people to move away from cities or to stop commuting to work in urban cores. These trends threaten the vitality of cities, reducing demand for businesses, diminishing revenue for municipal services, and lowering real estate values.
Facilitating greater flows of immigrants into cities would counteract this loss of residents and workers in urban areas. An Americas Society/Council of the Americas factsheet lists five ways immigrants benefit urban economies.
- “Immigrants contribute to a dynamic labor force and spur economic growth.”
- “Immigrants are more likely to start businesses and create jobs in their cities”
- “Immigrants are critical to helping cities counteract population decline, keeping economies vibrant and strong.”
- “Immigrants make cities more attractive by raising housing values”
- “Higher levels of education among immigrants contribute to a talented workforce.”
Similarly, the New American Economy Research Fund finds that “Across the top 100 metro areas in the United States, from the smallest, Spokane, Washington, to the largest, New York City, immigrants are helping cities grow in myriad ways. They serve as healthcare workers filling critical labor gaps and caring for seniors, entrepreneurs creating local jobs, consumers patronizing local businesses, homeowners strengthening local housing markets, and taxpayers funding public services.”
All cities need a boost from immigration in the wake of the pandemic, including those that were ailing even before it struck. With an impending change in leadership at the federal level, it is an auspicious time to welcome more immigrants into our cities, for their sake and ours.
Joel Newman is a teacher in Oregon. He writes for the site openborders.info.