"The comeback of the urban core is a striking reversal of long-term trends," proclaims Richard Florida. Although this rebound is good for urban growth and prosperity, it hasn't been able to solve enduring problems of poverty and disadvantage.
"The urban rebound is real," says Florida. "America’s urban cores and downtowns have become centers of innovation, growth, and consumption. The comeback of the core is a good thing—a very good thing—in that it provides the resources and capital that are required to create jobs, generate a viable tax base, improve living standards, and create deeper, more longer-lasting urban growth and prosperity."
"But America’s ongoing urban comeback is far from complete," he adds. "Isolated islands of prosperity remain surrounded by seas of distress and disadvantage."
Through a series of maps indicating the concentrations of America's three main socioeconomic classes in several cities, Florida traces "the striking class divides" that have accompanied this reversal. "Even as the urban core has rebounded and regenerated, large swaths of poverty, concentrated disadvantage, and urban distress continue to exist in a hidden, almost parallel dimension that is ignored by or invisible to many politicians, developers, and new urbanites."
"The next and perhaps greater urban challenge is to extend the benefits of rejuvenating cores to a far broader swath of people and neighborhoods," Florida argues. "We need to put equal if not greater effort into ensuring that the people and communities that are falling behind—still a clear majority in most cities—can participate in and benefit from this ongoing urban transformation."
FULL STORY: Comeback City, Divided City
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
The State of E-Scooters in the US
Eight years after shared e-scooters were first introduced in US cities, the industry still teeters on the edge of success, hindered in part by limited infrastructure.
Rochester Shows Possible Future for Former Highways
A former freeway is undergoing a massive redevelopment that goes beyond highway removal to reconnect and revitalize surrounding areas.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
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