Lots of cities and states subsidize and promote their airports, and Rhode Island is no exception. Policy has been built around TF Green being a job creator and major asset for the state – a nice, reasonably priced airport within easy driving access of much of New England’s population. It is certainly an economic asset to the state. The economist Jan Bruckner found that a 10% increase in air traffic at a regional airport correlates to a 1% increase in job growth in the region. No wonder regions promote their airports so heavily.
However, does TF Green hurt the downtown area? Does attempting to locate a lot of jobs by the airport spread employment away from downtown?
Many firms want to be near the airport – hotels, meeting rooms, parking, shopping. Lots of these sorts of things used to be downtown, because they wanted to be near the train station and the decision-makers of the state. Now, it matters less.
Airports create a lot of jobs. The Oakland Airport claims to create directly 8,000 jobs and induce many, many more. However, areas around airports tend to be ugly, sprawl places full of the same chain hotels and chain restaurants. Not that there is anything wrong with these places. They just have little local character. People also worry that flights make their neighborhood noisy.
Some claim that airports will create an Aerotropolis model of development in the future. That policy should promote airport development, because that is what’s next. The Authors of Aerotropolis the book, say that “shape business location and urban development in the 21st century as much as highways did in the 20th century, railroads in the 19th and seaports in the 18th.”
No wonder cities and towns have reshaped policy to support airports. Many cities and states, including Rhode Island, have set up powerful Airport Commissions. Many places, including Boulder, CO, use eminent domain to expand and maintain their airport capacity. This move carries a lot of meaning. Eminent domain is a strong tactic meant for use for projects that benefit the whole community, often used for roads. Switching to airports, especially with a unanimous vote, means much more is to come. Here in Rhode Island, TF Green’s runway extension involves the purchase of 107 homes. The expansion will happen with $110 million in federal money. A sign that both the state and the federal government believe job creation and economic future rests in airports.
Even urbanists and those who want strong downtowns know that airports and their infrastructure are necessary. In today’s knowledge economy, people need to go all over the world. Entrepreneurs need major airports, because the important meetings are still the face-to-face ones. Even Internet companies like Yahoo! cut back on telecommuting because the best work still happens face-to-face. Air travel makes that possible. So, even if you want to protect your downtown and maintain your town’s sense of place, support the airport. Policy must balance strong downtowns and neighborhoods where people want to live with airports as 21st century infrastructure.