For most of the twentieth century, Americans took a certain social geography for granted: the well-off lived in the suburbs, encircling poor city centers. When I wrote a book on “The Urban Experience” forty years ago, most Americans viewed that experience with trepidation. The image of city life as bleak, dilapidated, and dangerous became entrenched. Moving to the suburbs, which the American middle class had been doing for generations, turned into “flight.” But those scary years were unusual. Historically, cities have been wealthier, safer, and more welcoming than their surroundings.
Now the wheel has turned again. The city is glamorous again; filmmakers are having trouble finding stereotypically grimy alleys in Manhattan. Today’s political fights are not about stemming urban decay but about stemming urban upscaling. What happened?
See my column on this question at the Boston Review: here.
Update (Dec. 4, 2017):
From an NBER Working Paper, titled “Urban Revival in America, 2000 to 2010“: “This paper documents and explains the striking rise in the proclivity of college-educated individuals to reside near city centers… We find that changing preferences of young college graduates for… amenities like restaurants, bars, gyms, and personal services account for more than 50 percent of their growth near city centers.”
MADE IN AMERICA 