Page 73 - Westchester Magazine - January 2011

There are quite a few more Democrats around today than there were a decade ago. In fact, Democrats have had a hold on the county for some time. (Even by 1996—the earliest year for which the New York State Board of Elections made enrollment totals available— Democrats made up 39 percent of Westchester's total registered voters, compared to Republicans’ 31 percent.) The last year Westchester County favored a Republican for president was 1988, when 53 percent of voters supported George H.W. Bush.
We’re still creeping more and more to the left—at least registered voters are. In March 2000, Democrats made up 40 percent of registered voters, and Republicans made up just 30 percent. By November 2010, it changed to 47 percent Democrat and 25 percent Republican.
“The growth in Democratic enrollment can’t be traced to any single source but rather to a combination of trends,” Democrat Noam Bramson, the mayor of New Rochelle, says. “This includes, first, an ideological shift to the right in the national Republican Party, which has pushed many moderate ‘Rockefeller’ Republicans into the Democratic column; second, an influx of new residents from New York City, who have brought with them the progressive political orientation of the Big Apple; third, the success and popu- larity of local Democratic officeholders like Nita Lowey; and, fourth, increasingly diverse demographics, which tend to correlate with Democratic support."
“Nonetheless,” Bramson adds, “Westchester remains a competitive two-party region in which local elections are shaped less by party loyalty and more by practical quality- of-life and pocketbook issues.” John Hall—the Democratic congressman ousted in November in favor of Republican Nan Hayworth—can attest to that. So can, for that matter, our County Executive, Republican Rob Astorino.
{3} We Don’t
Just Live
Here—
We Work
Here, Too
Despite what some may think when looking at any Westchester Metro- North station at 8 am, there are ac- tually more people coming here for work than leaving, reports Purchase College Associate Professor of History Lisa Keller.
“Westchester has shifted to a service indus- try profile, and the service industry brings a lot of people in,” she explains. Keller says that, by 2006, it was apparent that more people came to Westchester for work than commuted out. “The numbers are tipped in that favor, and the bulk of people who work in Westchester also eventually lived in Westchester, and that’s the big change.” In addition, says Keller, “commut- ing has become very expensive, and people go to where the jobs are. And as long as housing in Westchester is cheaper than in New York City, this trend will likely continue.”
T
he housing market carried on as usual through the first half of this decade—until the market started tanking. Then, our houses and lots, like our budgets,
started shrinking.
In 2001, residential real estate sales totaled nearly
9,000, two-thirds of which were condos, co-ops, and two- to five-family homes, according to the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors. By 2009, sales dropped to fewer than 6,000, half of which were single-family homes. (There is reason to be optimistic, however, as the report projected a rebound in sales for 2010 to around 7,000.)
According to Patrick Natarelli of the Westchester County Department of Planning, there has been a growing interest in development centered on mass transit, shifting towards smaller, multi-family homes. “Empty-nesters are moving out of their homes into apartments or condos and downsizing, which leaves room for new families to come into the county,” says Land Use Planner Ted Leimbach, also of the Department of Planning (who noted that much real estate activity has moved towards re-development in Southern Westchester). “There are new families moving in,” says Natarelli, “including immigrant families, which contrib- utes to the population change.”
So let's cozy up to our neighbors—there will be more of them, and we’ll all be living closer together.
then
&
NOW
W WWW.WESTCHESTERMAGAZINE.COM / JANUARY 2011 / 71
[2] We’ve Got The Blues
(4) We Live in Smaller Houses on Smaller Properties