Harvard professor Edward Glaeser's Triumph of the City presents cool-headed analysis that largely confirms the theories that Jane Jacobs first advanced 40 years ago, says Adam Christian.
Christian places Glaeser politically somewhere in between Richard Florida and Joel Kotkin:
"Cities should not tailor their policies to the so-called 'creative class,' nor should they ignore the important role of amenities in attracting and retaining talent. In fact, if a city has a high median income relative to local housing prices, it indicates that additional pay is needed to draw qualified labor. This is a sign of urban failure rather than success. In cities with a high quality of life, workers will by contrast accept lower salaries because the desirability of the location is itself a form of compensation."
He concludes that Glaeser is more humanist than one might initially think:
"Glaeser conceives of cities first and foremost as consisting of people and connections, and secondarily of places and buildings."
Thanks to Josh Stephens
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