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Let’s face it: “You Can’t Beat Boston,” the slogan for Mayor Michelle Wu’s new public-private partnership to recruit businesses, isn’t going to win any awards.
I don’t see it becoming part of the lexicon like “I Love New York,” and its cocky assertion of invincibility rings hollow amid the state’s steady loss of residents and jobs. It’s ripe for ridicule, much like former governor Ed King’s “Make it in Massachusetts” campaign from the late 1970s to early 1980s.
But the tepid tagline — whose origin story was laid out earlier this week by the Globe’s Shirley Leung — is a small step in the right direction.
Why it matters: Boston needs to aggressively promote the region as a great place to live and run a business. A rebranding campaign is overdue.
Moreover, it’s a healthy sign that Wu — who has had a fraught relationship with some in the business community — has brought in leaders from top companies and institutions to back the effort. A united front helps.
“It’s great to have partners willing to roll up their sleeves and do something,” Wu told me in an interview.
The big but: We can’t assume that better promotion of our assets — elite universities, strong K-12 schools, world-class hospitals, and a highly educated workforce, among them — will paper over our liabilities.
Whoop chief executive Will Ahmed, a member of the group that put together “You Can’t Beat Boston,” couldn’t have been more wrong when he reportedly said: “Boston doesn’t have a product problem. We have a marketing problem.”
The “product problem” — unaffordable housing, steep taxes, a high cost of living, and subpar transportation options, among the most intractable — can’t be brushed off. Neither Ahmed nor a spokesperson for Boston-based Whoop responded to a request for comment.
Zoom out: The mayor’s rocky relationship with developers and builders gets a lot of attention.
But “You Can’t Beat Boston” is just one of several joint ventures between Wu and the broader private sector. Others are focused on issues including funding youth summer jobs, creating an ecosystem to spur technology innovation, and bolstering corporate recruitment.
I’ve heard from business leaders who are encouraged by Wu’s willingness to open up a dialogue with them. They say she understands the city’s problems and is working hard to fix them, though serious disagreements remain.
Points of contention: Wu supports a ballot initiative that would impose statewide rent control.
I agree with those who say that the proposal would make it more difficult for the city to increase housing construction, which is the more effective way to rein in rents. Her affordable housing and green energy policies are also making development more expensive. She’d be wise to put them on hold.
The mayor opposes another proposed ballot question that would cut the state’s individual income tax rate to 4 percent from 5 percent, a measure supported by many business leaders still seething over implementation of the surtax on incomes above $1 million in 2023. I’m with Wu on this one; the state can’t afford the lost revenue.
Beyond city limits: Of course, the state’s business climate is suffering from factors that are out of Wu’s control.
- High costs for health care, child care, utilities, and housing make Massachusetts the second most expensive state in the nation, according to an analysis of data collected by the Council for Community & Economic Research.
- Income and property taxes are among the steepest in the country, as are taxes on employers that fund the unemployment insurance system, according to the Tax Foundation.
- While the state has the second-highest median income in the nation, many middle-class families are struggling to get by.
Governor Maura Healey has put affordability at the center of her reelection campaign, but progress has been scant.
Final thought: Massachusetts has long benefited from what I’d call a “boutique” economy: high-paying jobs for highly skilled workers. Life here can be quite good for biotech scientists, investment managers, and high-end professional services providers.
But the brutal cost of living puts companies with a lot of lower-wage workers at a disadvantage.
What, exactly, makes us unbeatable if those workers can’t afford adequate housing, child care, tickets to the Red Sox or Celtics, or health care?
Slogans won’t fix that.
Larry Edelman can be reached at larry.edelman@globe.com.