What Canada Can Learn From U.S. Cities

"Last April, Washington's oldest continuously operating market burned down, a victim of faulty wiring. The neighbourhood was in shock: The Eastern Market is the very heart of Capitol Hill. But Adrian Fenty, Washington's young new mayor, vowed to have the building restored and reopened in two years or less, and in the meantime city hall used surplus revenues to construct a temporary shelter. The locals raised an astonishing $385,000 in a few weeks to help out the vendors. The market was up and running in its temporary new building by the end of August.

The rescue of the Eastern Market epitomizes the transformation of the District of Columbia. Capitol Hill, which had descended from gentility to crime-infested poverty, is once again thriving. The same is true of Logan Circle, Columbia Heights, the U Street Corridor.

Washington is not alone. Portland's Pearl District, Manhattan's Hudson Heights - where crime has declined by 84 per cent since 1993 - Chicago's South Loop, San Diego's Marina District, Boston's South End, all reflect the renaissance of urban America. Not everywhere, and not all for the same reasons. But the stereotype of the run-down, boarded-up, dangerous downtown is increasingly a myth. America's cities are back.

What happened? Demographics, unintended consequences, the arrival of common sense. City halls across the country were absorbing the same lesson: Focus on the fundamentals. Clean up the parks, scrape off the graffiti, put a cop on every corner, lower taxes, cut the red tape and let market forces do the rest.

Today, most Washington neighbourhoods are safe and clean, and enjoy twice-weekly garbage pickup. How many Canadian neighbourhoods can make the same claim?"