Magic Johnson On Inner-City Development

Following his legendary basketball career, Earvin "Magic" Johnson has turned to development of commercial and residential properties in diverse inner-city neighborhoods. The recent Urban Land Institute fall meeting at the Convention Center featured Johnson as a keynote speaker. TPR is pleased to present these excerpts, in which he exhorts the development community to join him in rebuilding America’s inner cities.

"...When you're talking about growing your company, you need urban America, and urban America needs you. If you do it right, there’s a high upside for everybody – for the community, for the developer, and for the mayor and city officials. The African-American community represents about $1 trillion; Latinos are $800 billion. When you talk about disposable income, minorities have it. Don’t look at it like you did 20 years ago."