Better Cities Project
  • Home
  • About Us
    Our Vision
    BCP’s vision is that free-market municipal policy solutions are broadly available, widely acceptable, and regularly employed, enabling American cities to achieve their full potential as engines of economic prosperity. We reject the idea that cities are lost to free-market principles or policies.
    Our Mission
    BCP uncovers ideas that work, promotes realistic solutions, and forges partnerships that help people in America’s largest cities live free and happy lives.
    Learn More
    • About Better Cities Project
    • Our Focus Areas
    • Our Team
    • Collaboration and Careers -- Work With BCP
  • Research and Projects
  • Latest Insights
  • Videos
  • Contact
    Our Vision

    Address

    304 S. Jones Blvd #2826
    Las Vegas NV 89107

    Phone

    ‪(702) 546-8736‬

    Hours

    Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

    Email

    info@better-cities.org

    Email Us

    No Result
    View All Result
    Better Cities Project
    • Home
    • About Us
      Our Vision
      BCP’s vision is that free-market municipal policy solutions are broadly available, widely acceptable, and regularly employed, enabling American cities to achieve their full potential as engines of economic prosperity. We reject the idea that cities are lost to free-market principles or policies.
      Our Mission
      BCP uncovers ideas that work, promotes realistic solutions, and forges partnerships that help people in America’s largest cities live free and happy lives.
      Learn More
      • About Better Cities Project
      • Our Focus Areas
      • Our Team
      • Collaboration and Careers -- Work With BCP
    • Research and Projects
    • Latest Insights
    • Videos
    • Contact
      Our Vision

      Address

      304 S. Jones Blvd #2826
      Las Vegas NV 89107

      Phone

      ‪(702) 546-8736‬

      Hours

      Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

      Email

      info@better-cities.org

      Email Us

      No Result
      View All Result
      Better Cities Project
      No Result
      View All Result
      Home Economic Prosperity

      Cities won’t come back without major reform

      Will the thriving cities of 2019 immediately return to pre-pandemic success? That's wishful thinking

      bySamuel J. AbramsandJoel Kotkin
      May 31, 2021
      in Economic Prosperity
      Reading Time: 4 mins read
      A A
      Cities won’t come back without major reform
      Share on FacebookShare on TwitterLinkedInEmail

      America’s urban leaders seem to prepare for the post-pandemic future with delusions that everything will go back to the way before the COVID-19 pandemic set in. Nothing can be more dangerous to the prospects for cities; the pandemic and recent rise in crime have created a vastly different prospect for cities, necessitating serious reconfiguration.

      Typical of the new urban hype was a recent Bloomberg report, which proudly declared “Why We Don’t Believe the Big City Obituary” and proceeded to share statistics of a national survey of 1,200 residents of the nation’s six largest metropolitan areas — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Philadelphia — about their attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report made numerous strong conclusions in support of city life, including that the bulk of residents in big cities “say they want to live in the type of community in which they currently reside.”

      Of course, this report made no mention of the movements within urban areas before COVID-19, where the population was already leaving core cities for suburbs and exurbs. Indeed, well over four-fifths of all job and population growth over the past decade took place in suburbs. And since the pandemic gripped the nation, there’s been accelerating movement of city residents to suburbs — Manhattan and San Francisco rents are falling, but those in the periphery have been rising.

      RelatedInsights

      Lawsuit: Jacksonville, FL

      Will California Pass Bill Easing Zoning Laws for Church-sponsored Housing Projects?

      Book Review: “Arbitrary Lines” by Nolan Gray

      Book Review: “The Municipal Financial Crisis” by Mark Moses

      Indeed, the cities that have recovered fastest from COVID-19 — Denver, Charlotte, Nashville, and Dallas — are themselves overwhelmingly suburban. This fits well with the latest reading from a new Los Angeles Times/Reality Check Insights national poll, which was taken after the November 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

      This national sample presents a slightly different, less rosy picture. In fact, when residents of big cities were asked about the ideal setting of their next home, a majority of big city dwellers said something other than their current situation. Just 44 percent would pick a big city once again, with significant numbers preferring a small city (9 percent), rural areas and towns (17 percent), or the suburbs (25 percent). Small cities did not fare much better either; only 38 percent of small city dwellers claim that their ideal location is another small city.

      Moreover, those most willing to leave are precisely those who cities need to stay. Only 35 percent of those with incomes over $100K would ideally remain in a big city, compared to 44 percent of those with incomes under $50K and 54 percent for those between $50K and $100K.

      The survey also directly asks respondents whether they would move away from their current community if they could, and Americans who live in big cities are the most likely to strongly state that they want to leave for somewhere else. Thirty-two percent of big city dwellers state that they would definitely move away from big cities if they could; this is notably greater than the quarter of those who live in suburbs of big cities and small cities who feel the same way, as well as under a fifth of all residents in suburbs of small cities (17 percent), rural areas (18 percent), and small towns (17 percent).

      Perhaps surprisingly, younger Americans are notably more interested in leaving big cities if they could. While 22 percent of Boomers state that they definitely would move elsewhere, more than a third of Gen Xers (36 percent) and Millennials (37 percent) definitely would leave big cities if they could. This lends credence to many other reports which have found that younger Americans are happy in areas outside big cities but may be anchored to them for career opportunities.

      Finally, relationship status — where one is married, single, or living with a partner — has no real impact on leaving, as about a third of each group state that they would definitely leave the big city. But having children makes a big difference; having children under the age of 18 makes one twice as likely to claim that one would definitely leave a big city if one could do so.

      Rather than act as if nothing has changed, city leaders need to adjust to a new reality, where more people will choose to live not simply for employment but also for personal preferences. This should make them re-think pushing high-density housing and instead place more emphasis on things that might persuade them to stay like safe streets, strong neighborhoods, safer alternatives to transit, and better schools.

      As Frank Lloyd Wright observed, people make a city — and the city exists wherever they choose to live. It’s their choice, and city leaders should make it an easier one.

      Via: American Enterprise Institute
      Tags: COVID-19Economic DevelopmentGrowth
      Previous Post

      Why COVID-19 might not change our cities as much as we expect

      Next Post

      Cities are getting a bailout from Washington. What should they do with the money?

      Samuel J. Abrams

      Samuel J. Abrams

      Samuel J. Abrams is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on questions of related civic and political culture and American ideologies. Dr. Abrams is concurrently a professor of politics and social science at Sarah Lawrence College, and a faculty fellow with New York University’s Center for Advanced Social Science Research.

      Joel Kotkin

      Joel Kotkin

      Mr. Kotkin is the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California and Executive Director of the Houston-based Urban Reform Institute — formerly Center for Opportunity Urbanism (UrbanReformInstitute.org). He is Senior Advisor to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. He is Executive Editor of the widely read website www.newgeography.com and a regular contributor to the City Journal, Daily Beast, Quillette, American Affairs and Real Clear Politics.

      Explore More

      • Economic Prosperity
      • Criminal Justice and Public Safety
      • Transportation and Infrastructure
      • Education
      • Energy and Environment
      • Community, Growth and Housing
      • Clean, Open and Fair Government

      Recent News

      Lawsuit: Jacksonville, FL

      Lawsuit: Jacksonville, FL

      December 22, 2022
      Will California Pass Bill Easing Zoning Laws for Church-sponsored Housing Projects?

      Will California Pass Bill Easing Zoning Laws for Church-sponsored Housing Projects?

      December 22, 2022
      Lawsuit: Humboldt County, California

      Lawsuit: Humboldt County, California

      October 6, 2022
      Book Review: “Arbitrary Lines” by Nolan Gray

      Book Review: “Arbitrary Lines” by Nolan Gray

      October 5, 2022
      Load More
      Facebook Twitter RSS
      Better Cities Project

      Better Cities Project helps people in America’s largest cities live free, happy lives. We uncover what works, promote solutions, and forge partnerships that turn ideas into results.



      © 2021 Better Cities Project

      Our Focus Areas

      • Economic Prosperity
      • Criminal Justice and Public Safety
      • Transportation and Infrastructure
      • Education
      • Energy and Environment
      • Community, Growth and Housing
      • Clean, Open and Fair Government

      The Fine Print

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms and Conditions
      • Reports and Financials

      Recent News

      Lawsuit: Jacksonville, FL

      Lawsuit: Jacksonville, FL

      December 22, 2022
      Will California Pass Bill Easing Zoning Laws for Church-sponsored Housing Projects?

      Will California Pass Bill Easing Zoning Laws for Church-sponsored Housing Projects?

      December 22, 2022
      Lawsuit: Humboldt County, California

      Lawsuit: Humboldt County, California

      October 6, 2022
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • About Us
      • The Team
      • Work With Better Cities Project
      • Research and Projects
      • Latest Insights
      • Videos

      © 2022 Better Cities Project

      Welcome Back!

      Login to your account below

      Forgotten Password?

      Retrieve your password

      Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

      Log In

      Add New Playlist

      Love Cities? So Do We.

      Get ahead of the curve -- learn about innovations, ideas and policies driving change in America's largest cities, with BCP in your inbox.



      You have Successfully Subscribed!