An Urban Renaissance As Population Rises

"New York emptied out in the 1970s. Declining transport costs cut the advantage that New York City had long enjoyed because of its proximity to waterways. Its manufacturing heart hollowed out, and the middle class began to leave. As Edward Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard University, points out, other technological advances contributed to the city's decline - the car and the air conditioner, which made suburban living easier and helped push the population of the United States to the hotter South and West. As the Northeast emptied, cities like Dallas, Phoenix and Houston became the fastest growing in the United States. New York, on the other hand, lost 824,000 people in the 1970s."

"Since then, something remarkable has happened. While parts of America's Northeast are still depopulating, New York is not. Late last year, the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, stood up to announce that he expected New York - current estimated population around 8.2 million - to add more than 1 million people over the next couple of decades, taking the population to more than 9 million by 2030. The city is growing again."