How Do You Fix a Broken City

[Dinner]

The most common thing is for a city to build a big new attraction in a blighted area (like Long Beach's Aquarium of the Pacific, or Seattles Safeway field, or others) and then to offer tax/financial incentives for business & developers to concentrate on that area.

Cleaning up schools & parks, while beautifying the area and repairing roads also helps.

[The Templar]

Originally posted by Dissident
typical leftie response
as the post above just said. It would men only the very rich could live in good neighborhoods. The middle class would be forced to live in crime ridden neighborhoods.

It's a microcosm of what socialism does to a society.

Lefties always want to force people to do things. They haven't heard of a little thing called liberty.

You assume the only "good" neighborhoods are outside the city. Let's think about that for a second. A good neighborhood as cultural activities like movies and live music (of all varieties) and some theatre doesn't hurt either. A good neighborhood has a friendly neighborhood bar. A good neighborhood has great restauraunts. A good neighborhood has parks, and local sports.

Oh wait. That's not some bedroom community suburb. That's the East Villiage. The Garden District. The French Quarter. DuPont Circle. In other words, the best neighborhoods are urban.

The best way to stop sprawl and white flight is to:

(a) not build roads, water lines, electric lines and other infrastructure out to undeveloped areas.

(b) jack up the gas tax on non-commercial vehicles (so as to keep other prices stable) and build more mass transit, eliminate parking lots, and replace most lanes in multilane roads with giant planters and wider sidewalks.

(c) Remind people that cities rule!

[Dinner]

I'm glade you don't have the power to inforce such rules. Not only would they not revitialize urban areas but they'd destroy the economy to boot.

85% of all goods in the country are carried by truck. If you raise fuel prices then you're raising the price of everything carried by that fuel.

[Skanky Burns]

But then more goods would be carried by rail or similar, since it would become comparatively cheaper.

[Asher]

Rail or similar have limited capacities.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Asher

Gay people earn more because they're smarter and think outside the box.

Badumpbump!!! Rimming shot.

[DaShi]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Most people can't stay away from cities - they need to go work. For the few that don't, you can't attract them back anyway.

So your idea is crock anyway?

[Az]

"outside the box"

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Asher
Rail or similar have limited capacities.

So do roads.

In fact, using roads is only cheaper because unlike railways, users don't have to bear the full cost of building the roads.

[KrazyHorse]

The only real long-term solution is a levelling of income disparities. The larger the gap between rich and poor in a country, the worse its urban problems will be. The downtrodden and hopeless (and those who prey off them) will always end up congregating somewhere. I can't say I blame people with kids for not wanting to live beside a crack house, so the city will always be abandoned to them. The solution is to minimize their numbers. There are two ways to do this.

To paraphrase: "The Welfare State is the only alternative in modern times to the Police State".

[DanS]

Gay people are a potential solution to urban decay?

Works in my neighborhood. They are willing to take more risks in transitional neighborhoods because of the stuff that Oerdin mentioned.

There are no bathhouses any more that I know of, even though they used to proliferate. A gay neighborhood doesn't have to mean a red light district any more.

[Solly]

The downtrodden and hopeless (and those who prey off them) will always end up congregating somewhere

In most developed societies I think it is fairer to say that the violent and criminal poor prey on the rich.

[Q Classic]

i'm not so sure. those same violent and criminal poor, when they riot, tend not to riot in the better parts of town, but where they live.

they'll riot in compton, not beverly hills.

talk about ****ting where you eat...

[Asher]

Yarr, thinking shur iz funn

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
So do roads.

Roads already have the capacity to hold the trucks, if we suddenly transferred everything to rail, rail would not have the capacity.

Of course roads have a limited capacity, was this an attempt to be profound?

In fact, using roads is only cheaper because unlike railways, users don't have to bear the full cost of building the roads.

Eh? The rail systems in Canada are subsidized by the government.

[Tingkai]

Re: How Do You Fix a Broken City

Originally posted by Seeker
This is a problem for all North America.
Problem:
so-called 'white flight' to suburbs. The relatively wealthy cluster to distant suburbs, driving up property values and funding quality schools and other institutions. Also, they keep 'high quality' spending in this areas and tend to be culturally active and community involved.

creating a donut city with a downward spiral...neglect, closing businesses, and a run down look, crime or the appearance of crime. A vicious circle where there is less and less reason to invest and more and more risk. A rent controlled appartment building with crack smoking tenants (or appearance thereof)? No thanks says mr committed non-slimeball investor/landlord.

This isn't a problem for Toronto. The city remains economically and socially vibrant within its core area. There is a solid mix of income groups ranging from very poor to super rich.

Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world. 57% of the population is white. Chinese and South Asian each make up about 10% of the population.

The downtown area is not run down. Some areas are upper class neighbourhoods. It is not economically depressed. Toronto remains a major contributor to the Canadian economy.

There has been urban sprawl to the new suburbs, but these are also seeing a mix of ethnic groups.

As with any community, Toronto has its problems, but it far ahead of cities south of the border.