Good middle class suburbs aren't sustainable without a vibrant city, and vice versa, argues a recent article in the Houston Chronicle.
"In a series of in-depth articles by leading experts on cities, the [Houston] Chronicle has engaged the public about choices and directions for the future. Thus far, the debate seems polarized, probably confusing to many citizens, with the "Suburbanists" (Tory Gattis and Joel Kotkin) pitted against the "Urbanists" (generally represented by David Crossley)."
"The future of Houston should not be the result of a clash of ideologies, a slugfest of slogans. The city needs to learn from the suburbs - more planned communities and "town centers." The suburbs, in turn, need more urbanity and walkable traditional neighborhoods like The Heights and Southampton. We need a solid pragmatism, combining our great pro-growth, pro-business approach with a bold and innovative quality-of-life agenda, leading to a coordinated regional vision for the city and its suburbs. This is not an ideological "either-or," but a "both-and" of grass-roots realism."
The urbanist writer Jane Jacobs said it this way, "the purpose of cities is to create the middle class." This is the "New Metropolitanism."
FULL STORY: Houston needs more than slugfest of slogans
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