Be a Cheerleader for Your City

Letter to the Editor regarding “The Myth of the Back-to-the-City Migration” column by Joel Kotkin at The Wall Street Journal on July 6, 2010.

Joel Kotkin labels CEOs for Cities, Urban Land Institute and Richard Florida as “cheerleaders” for cities.  Speaking for CEOs for Cities, I would answer, “Guilty as charged.”  My question to Mr. Kotkin would be, “And why aren’t you?”

To be for cities doesn’t mean that one has to be against suburbs.  That’s absurd.  They depend on one another for their success.  Suburbs without a strong core city suffer inevitable decline, and cities surrounded by dysfunctional suburbs are made weaker for it.

There is no choice to be made here.  Why does he continue to insist there is?

And contrary to his assertion that “back to the city” is a myth, it makes sense to consult the evidence.  Strong trends are encouraging Americans to live in ways that allow them to reduce their driving.  Gas price increases burst the housing bubble.  The more it costs to drive, the more expensive it became to live in neighborhoods distant from everyday destinations, including jobs and housing.  The value of houses most distant from the core of the metro area took the hardest and earliest hits.  Homebuyers (not planners, not urbanists) are paying more for houses with more destinations within walking distance. They are paying an even higher premium for homes served also by dense transit networks.  And as early as ten years ago, young adults, ages 25-34 were 33 percent more likely than other Americans to live within a three-mile radius of America’s central business districts, pointing to generational differences that are likely to linger.

The fact that many Americans are choosing to live in cities doesn’t mean the demise of suburbs.  Nor does it mean that people are being forced to do something they don’t want to do.  It means that more Americans want a choice and are finally getting it.  That’s something we should all support.

Carol Coletta
President and CEO
CEOs for Cities

  

Sam Newberg, July 12, 2010

Well put, Carol!

Link: www.joe-urban.com

Warren Karlenzig, July 12, 2010

My recent report: The Death of Sprawl: Designing Urban Resilience for the 21st Century Resource and Climate Crises (http://www.postcarbon.org/report/109840-cities-the-death-of-sprawl) examines how exurban development in particular has played itself out economically. Well-planned cities, suburbs and metro areas that offer mobility and mixed-use zoning alternatives represent the future of economics, demographics, planning and overall market preferences. No false dichotomy between "cites" and "suburbs" will be able to remain credible in the face of these longer-term trends.

Link: www.commoncurrent.com

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