Decentralizing the population and businesses of our great cities would be a long and expensive proposition, and one likely to fail.
Sam Casella, FAICP, president of the American Institute of Certified Planners, responds to historian Stephen Ambrose who writes in the Wall Street Journal that, in an electronic age, "it is no longer necessary to pack so many people and office[s] into such small space in lower Manhattan. They can be scattered in neighboring regions and states, where they can work just as efficiently and in far more security." Should planners heed this advice and encourage investors, developers, businesses, and citizens to move out of our cities? If Americans did scatter across regions and states, would they really be more secure? Would they be as efficient?
Thanks to Chris Steins
FULL STORY: Let Cities Be Cities
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