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Bismarck_Da_Otto_Von t1_j5ainzq wrote

Yale is a walled garden within New Haven--might as well be Connecticut's own Forbidden City.

Does the institution add economic/social/educational/medical value to the state and region? Sure. Their endowment is literally the GDP of Egypt or UAE---how could they not add "value" being the elephant in the room? They are a world unto themselves.

But let's not overstate how great Yale is to the residents of New Haven proper. Considering that it is home to Yale, the city still shockingly resembles Bridgeport in crime and poverty...but Bridgeport's population is actually growing. City of New Haven's population has been flat for 30 years. That fact alone should hint at how "great" it is to host Yale when you're New Haven.

Yale has a "free rider" problem. Sure, they kick some dollars to the city. But we're talking about a $42 billion dollar institution that pays (checks notes)....$22M a year to the city? That's a rounding error if you're Yale. Chump change.

They hold billions of dollars' worth of property in the city and most of it is NOT on the property tax rolls. Where are municipalities supposed to get their revenue for city services? Property taxes, primarily.

IMHO, Yale's a jewel in the Connecticut crown but not a great partner for the city that hosts them. Not so different from all the other shiny universities located in or near beleaguered areas.

"But New Haven would be worse off without us!" - spoken like the abusive partner in a marriage.

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drjoshthewash t1_j5kuzyr wrote

I agree with much of what you say. I also like your username. A few points you may or may not disagree with.

  1. Inasmuch as you consider it a walled garden, they employ thousands of local residents, and that count goes to tens of thousands if you count subcontractor and Yale related economic activities. Both directly and via subcontractors, construction jobs, vast medical system, and more.

  2. You have to consider whether Yale occupies spaces and economic opportunity that would otherwise flourish in its absence or whether whatever economic activity is there due to in large part Yales presence.

  3. Regarding Yale's lack of community presence. Is that Yales fault, or the fault of the area lack of opportunity presented to Yales gifted and high achieving alumni. This particular complaint smells of idealistic wishful thinking that isn't grounded in any reality or economic realities.

  4. Do you think if offered to host Yale, Bridgeport wouldn't offer tax free accommodations and more? Put another way, look not 15 miles west to Bridgeport, and their crumbling, vacant, shuttered, ruined, downtown. Do you think New Haven would have fared differently? Look at Hartford, Waterbury, Meriden, Derby, can go on. These towns went one way, save for one.

  5. I'd be curious what specific actual policies you would support from the municipality imposing on Yale or vice versa to help any of these issues.

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