Equating the impact on upstate New York of a $4.6 billion chip fab plant in Saratoga County with what the Erie Canal did for us is certainly attention-getting but plainly absurd.
Even under the rosiest scenario, the Advanced Micro Devices spinoff facility in Malta is expected to create about 1,500 jobs, along with support industries that may develop. For how long, who knows? That factory, if it is built, will no doubt produce the very latest microchip and make Malta a household name wherever microchip is spoken.
But in a few years, a competitor in all likelihood will introduce a new, improved chip somewhere else on the global checkerboard and the game will change again.
This type of applied science is today's wild frontier. Needed improvements for various commercial applications are bound to produce continued development, innovation, and consequently a new Malta somewhere else.
By contrast, the low-tech Erie Canal and its expanded versions were instrumental in America's western expansion and created New York as the Empire State. The canal was a huge deal, affecting millions and millions of lives, through most of the 19th century. There simply is no comparison, as much as the AMD boosters would like to claim.
One of the problems many of us are having grasping the true importance of the chip plant probably coming to our region is the boosterism and hype the project seems to generate from our business community and government leaders.
It's hard to know what to believe; whether it's even going to materialize, for example. Although people I trust on the subject, like Assemblyman Roy McDonald, tell me that it will happen. Or if it doesn't, something just like it will.
"We did our homework and made the investments in infrastructure. This site is approved and ready for chip fab plants. There aren't that many of those around, so believe me, if we don't land AMD, we'll get another one. Of that I am absolutely convinced," says Roy.
I guess that's reassuring, although I still hear that touch of uncertainty concerning AMD.
What Roy and a number of others I've spoken with seem to be saying with assurance, however, is that change is on its way. Malta will have its day in the sun, and what we do with that burst of growth and international attention is a blank slate to be filled in, or not. Whether the region is ready to take advantage, or even adequately cope with change, is a matter of wide speculation.
Personally, I think for the most part the answer is no.
The town of Malta may be ready, with strong zoning and a smart development plan that anticipates what's coming. But just a few miles away, the beautiful farmland of Washington County is virtually without protection. No zoning, no vision. The attitude there seems to be what happens, happens. Under those circumstances, the worst kinds of sprawl and awkward growth are far more likely to happen than not.
I found it utterly charming but strikingly naive for Malta Supervisor Paul Sausville to tell Times Union reporter Jimmy Vielkind that "We don't want to lose our small town character. We like Malta the way it is."
Continues : http://timesunion.com/
Even under the rosiest scenario, the Advanced Micro Devices spinoff facility in Malta is expected to create about 1,500 jobs, along with support industries that may develop. For how long, who knows? That factory, if it is built, will no doubt produce the very latest microchip and make Malta a household name wherever microchip is spoken.
But in a few years, a competitor in all likelihood will introduce a new, improved chip somewhere else on the global checkerboard and the game will change again.
This type of applied science is today's wild frontier. Needed improvements for various commercial applications are bound to produce continued development, innovation, and consequently a new Malta somewhere else.
By contrast, the low-tech Erie Canal and its expanded versions were instrumental in America's western expansion and created New York as the Empire State. The canal was a huge deal, affecting millions and millions of lives, through most of the 19th century. There simply is no comparison, as much as the AMD boosters would like to claim.
One of the problems many of us are having grasping the true importance of the chip plant probably coming to our region is the boosterism and hype the project seems to generate from our business community and government leaders.
It's hard to know what to believe; whether it's even going to materialize, for example. Although people I trust on the subject, like Assemblyman Roy McDonald, tell me that it will happen. Or if it doesn't, something just like it will.
"We did our homework and made the investments in infrastructure. This site is approved and ready for chip fab plants. There aren't that many of those around, so believe me, if we don't land AMD, we'll get another one. Of that I am absolutely convinced," says Roy.
I guess that's reassuring, although I still hear that touch of uncertainty concerning AMD.
What Roy and a number of others I've spoken with seem to be saying with assurance, however, is that change is on its way. Malta will have its day in the sun, and what we do with that burst of growth and international attention is a blank slate to be filled in, or not. Whether the region is ready to take advantage, or even adequately cope with change, is a matter of wide speculation.
Personally, I think for the most part the answer is no.
The town of Malta may be ready, with strong zoning and a smart development plan that anticipates what's coming. But just a few miles away, the beautiful farmland of Washington County is virtually without protection. No zoning, no vision. The attitude there seems to be what happens, happens. Under those circumstances, the worst kinds of sprawl and awkward growth are far more likely to happen than not.
I found it utterly charming but strikingly naive for Malta Supervisor Paul Sausville to tell Times Union reporter Jimmy Vielkind that "We don't want to lose our small town character. We like Malta the way it is."
Continues : http://timesunion.com/
