Tag: Cities

City Journal's 10 Blocks

Will Miami Transform America—Or America Miami?

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Writers Oliver Wiseman and Alex Perez join Theodore Kupfer to discuss the cultural geography of Miami, how the city became an economic magnet for disaffected urbanites during the pandemic, and whether Miami will pave the way for a politically competitive urban future or become a victim of its own success.

Find the transcript of this conversation and more at City Journal.

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JobMakers #44

Theresa Park on How Immigrants Revitalize U.S. Cities

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Hosted by Denzil Mohammed
With guest Theresa Park

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Theresa Park, Deputy Director and Senior Executive Vice President at MassDevelopment, a group that offers financing and real estate solutions to drive economic growth across Massachusetts. An immigrant from Korea who moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, Theresa saw first-hand how immigrants built their lives from the ground up, and in so doing brought economic and cultural vibrancy to their new home cities. And when she went on to work for cities like Lowell and Lawrence, she herself was the one to reach out to immigrant-owned businesses, nurture their growth, and see their broad impact. In this week’s JobMakers, Theresa talks us through her experience with immigrant business owners, how she developed their trust, how she celebrates them, and the many ways they enrich their new homeland.

Guest:

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

How Can Cities Survive?

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Ed Glaeser joins Brian Anderson to discuss how cities can overcome Covid, remote work, crime, and misgovernance. Glaeser’s new book, Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation, is out now.

Find the transcript of this conversation and more at City Journal.

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

On White Flight and “Whataboutism”

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With guest William Voegeli

William Voegeli joins Brian Anderson to discuss the subjects of his two recent stories for City Journal the history of the mid-century exodus of whites out of cities, known as “white flight,” and political reactions to the January 6 Capitol riot.

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Three Martini Lunch

Campaign Almost Over, Lefties Ready to Riot, The Karens Love Biden

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Hosted by Greg Corombos & Jim Geraghty

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome the final day of the seemingly endless 2020 campaign. They also brace for mayhem in major American cities as business board up in anticipation of violence perpetrated by the likes of Shutdown DC and Black Lives Matter. And they have fun with the presidential vote broken down by voters’ first names.

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Member Post

Eridemus
Eridemus
22
 

https://dirt.asla.org/2020/05/26/suburban-sprawl-increases-the-risk-of-future-pandemics/ It’s odd how all the “new urbanism” defenders haven’t said following the virus: well yeah, the suburbs aren’t that bad after all. Nope, it’s like how climate people say whether it’s cold or it’s hot, they are always right about overall global warming. I read this article today in which the author said the […]
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Member Post

Greg Strange
Greg Strange
198
 

George Floyd, George Floyd, George Floyd, George Floyd, George Floyd, George Floyd, George Floyd, George Floyd! The name seems to be reverberating all over the planet as leftists everywhere engage in one gigantic, unified primal scream over the incalculable loss to humanity. Is there anything else on earth that matters (now that we’ve forgotten Covid)? […]
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Are Cities Over? It’s Time for Some Skepticism About That Idea

James Pethokoukis
James Pethokoukis
129
 

I recently did an AEI online event on the future of the American city in the age of pandemics. As a recent Financial Times piece put it: “Almost overnight, cities have gone from being places of dreams and ambition to fearful symbols of mortality. The rich have retreated to the countryside, just as they did in Europe during the Black Death. Until now, cities have always bounced back.”

But will cities rebound this time? That was the first question I asked my esteemed panel. And here is some of what they told me:

Alain Bertaud, New York University’s Marron Institute of Urban Management:

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

Cities and Pandemics: A Long History

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Hosted by Brian C. Anderson
With guest Edward Glaeser

Edward L. Glaeser joins Brian Anderson to discuss the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic on city life in America, the connection between urban density and contagious disease, how to prepare for the threat of future outbreaks, and the economic-policy response of leaders in Washington.

As New York enters its second month under effective lockdown, Glaeser reminds us that “density and connection to the outside world—the defining characteristics of great cities—can also turn deadly.” Contagious disease has always been the enemy of urban life; overcoming it in the past has required massive investments in sanitary infrastructure. The current pandemic could prove a long-run disaster for urban residents and workers unless public fear is alleviated.

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

Rent Control: Unjust and Ineffective

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Hosted by Brian C. Anderson

Manhattan Institute’s Michael Hendrix interviews Mayer Brown partner Andrew Pincus, the lead attorney in a lawsuit taking on New York State’s sweeping rent-regulation laws.

In 2019, New York strengthened its already-strict rent regulations, while state legislatures in Oregon and California approved caps on rent increases. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders have even proposed national rent-control policies. Pincus explains what’s wrong with rent control, from violating due process and property rights to shutting out newcomers attempting to find housing in cities.

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

A Model for Suburban Development?

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Hosted by Brian C. Anderson

Charles Marohn joins Michael Hendrix to discuss why the current approach to suburban development isn’t working—the subject of his new book, Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity.

“Strong Towns,” notes Aaron Renn in his review of the book for City Journal, “resulted from [Marohn’s] discovery that the highway projects he designed showed a negative return on investment.” Marohn has dedicated his career to helping the country’s older suburbs avoid such costly mistakes by founding the book’s namesake organization, Strong Towns. “Whether or not one agrees with his many observations and prescriptions,” Renn writes, “Marohn provides a valuable analysis of sprawl-based development.”

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Forsaking the City

Kephalithos
Kephalithos
128
 

I’m trapped, for the time being, in a city. It’s a vivacious and proud city — arguably the state’s cultural capital; a place seemingly immune to economic malaise; a place teeming with little shops and well-manicured 19th-century neighborhoods. It appears on all the usual “best” lists — as the nth best place to raise a family, the nth most educated city in America, the nth greatest place for young professionals. It has much to offer … if you fancy yoga and craft beer and vegan cuisine.

If you’d care to join the Rudolf Steiner Anthroposophy Study Group, or the Astrology Circle, or the Lesbian Coffee House, or the Shamanic Journey Group. If you’d like to hear the local priest sermonize about social justice, then indulge in a little Catholic yoga afterward. If you’re interested in discussing “Cat Person” at the local library, or you enjoy the idea of perusing the city art museum’s collection of #Resistance artwork (which, when I last visited, included droopy hand-knit rifles with the name “Trump” stitched into them).

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

Pittsburgh’s Latest Comeback

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Hosted by Brian C. Anderson

John Tierney joins City Journal assistant editor Charles McElwee to discuss Pittsburgh’s recent resurgence.

“If you want to see how to revive a city—and how not to,” John Tierney writes, “go to Pittsburgh.” Pittsburgh has transformed itself from the Steel City to western Pennsylvania’s hub of “eds” and “meds.” But before that could happen, the city nearly destroyed itself under various misguided urban plans dating back to the 1950s.

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

The Entrenched vs. the Newcomers: 2019 James Q. Wilson Lecture

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Hosted by Brian C. Anderson
With guest Edward Glaeser

Edward L. Glaeser discusses how the proliferation of unfair laws and regulations is walling off opportunity in America’s greatest cities at the Manhattan Institute’s 2019 James Q. Wilson Lecture.

We like to think of American cities as incubators of opportunity, and this has often been true—but today’s successful city-dwellers are making it harder for others to follow their example. In this year’s Wilson Lecture, Glaeser addresses the conflict between entrenched interests and newcomers in its economic, political, geographic, and generational dimensions.

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

The New Disorder: Urban Dysfunction Returns

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Hosted by Brian C. Anderson, Seth Barron & Steve Malanga

Steven Malanga and Rafael Mangual join Seth Barron to discuss concerns that lawlessness is returning to American cities, a theme that Malanga and Mangual explore in separate feature stories in the Summer 2019 Issue of City Journal.

Memories of the urban chaos and disorder of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s have faded, and many local leaders today have forgotten the lessons of that bygone era. Malanga’s story, “The Cost of Bad Intentions” (available soon online), shows how a new generation of politicians are bringing back some of the terrible policies that got American cities into trouble in the first place. On crime and incarceration, Mangual argues that the new disorder will grow worse if progressives manage to overhaul the American criminal-justice system.

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

How Markets Shape Cities

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Urbanist Alain Bertaud joins Michael Hendrix to discuss how urban planners and economists can improve city management.

Bertaud’s book Order without Design: How Markets Shape Cities argues that markets provide the indispensable mechanism for cities’ growth. The book is a summation of what Bertaud has learned in a lifetime spent as an urban planner, including a stint at the World Bank, where he advised local and national governments on urban-development policies.

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Member Post

Seawriter
Seawriter
33
 

I write a weekly book review for the Daily News of Galveston County. (It is not the biggest daily newspaper in Texas, but it is the oldest.) My review normally appears Wednesdays. When it appears, I post the review here on the following Sunday. Book Review ‘Houston: Space City’ combines history, science and culture By MARK LARDAS […]
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Are Conservatives Fresh Out of Ideas for Cities?

DougMcCullough
DougMcCullough
5019
 

In the conservative state of Texas, the largest city that regularly elects a conservative mayor is Fort Worth. Across the nation, it is uncommon for midsize and large cities to elect right-of-center mayors. The notable exception would be New York City, which has elected Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg in recent memory.

Why do conservatives struggle to win elections in big cities? Do conservatives have any policy solutions that appeal to urban dwellers? Do city residents reluctantly turn to conservative candidates to address hard issues like rampant crime or budget crises, or after preferred candidates face personal corruption scandals?

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

The Unbearable Sameness of Cities

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Hosted by Aaron M. Renn

Oriana Schwindt joins City Journal contributing editor Aaron Renn to discuss Schwindt’s seven-month-long journey to municipalities near the geographic center of every U.S. state, and what she found there: the curious “sameness” of American cities. Schwindt chronicled her travels in a recent article for New York.

In gentrifying neighborhoods across the country, visitors are practically guaranteed to find high-end bars with expensive cocktails, coffee shops with tattooed and bespectacled baristas, new luxury housing in all-glass buildings, and maybe an Asian-fusion restaurant. “The reason so many of these joints feel harvested from Brooklyn,” Schwindt writes, “is because they are.”

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City Journal's 10 Blocks

The Next American City

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Hosted by Aaron M. Renn

Mick Cornett joins Aaron Renn to discuss Cornett’s time as mayor of Oklahoma City (2004-2018) and his new book The Next American City: The Big Promise of Our Midsize Metros.

America is full of midsize cities that have prospered through smart governance, including Charleston, Des Moines, Indianapolis, Sacramento—and Oklahoma City. Over the last decade-plus, elected officials and community leaders have made real progress on improving these urban centers, boosting civic vitality, and creating economic opportunity for residents.

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