The populations of at least a dozen major cities declined by more than ten percent between 2000 and 2010, including Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit. How best to regenerate those “legacy cities” is a matter of no small amount of debate.
Randall O’Toole recently responded to the prescriptions of a May 2013 report from the Lincoln Land Institute called “Regenerating America’s Legacy Cities.” O’Toole’s take: “While [the report’s prescriptions] may sound good at first glance, close scrutiny reveals that they are the same tired policies that have been trotted out by urban planners for decades.”
In light of what O’Toole sees to be the failure of the report in showing examples of those cities actually succeeding in any of the report’s prescriptions, he presents a series of rejoinder recommendations, including “improve schools,” “reduce crime,” and “reduce taxes.”
The recommendation to "reduce crime" has relevance to the land use conversation because O’Toole would reduce crime in these cities by “doing things like changing the gridded city streets that planners love into cul de sacs so that criminals have fewer escape routes.”
After questioning the libertarian bonafieds of that claim, Emily Washington addresses whether or not that typically suburban street configuration can actually be credited with reducing crime: “Some studies have found that culs de sac experience less crime relative to nearby through streets, perhaps in part because they draw less traffic. However, it’s far from clear that a pattern of suburban streets makes a city safer than it would be would be with greater street connectivity.”
FULL STORY: Saving Rustbelt Cities
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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