The Economist laments that cities are shrinking all over the world. More than a third of the cities in Germany are losing population, as are nearly one in ten in the United States. What the Economist fails to note is that most of the cities it uses as examples–Detroit, cities in the former East Germany–were once dominated by strong governments that taxed people heavily and often tried to control how people lived.
American urban planners are no longer trying to make people live in high-rise housing that is so common in eastern Europe. Instead, they are trying to make people live in mixed-use, mid-rise housing, so-called transit-oriented developments. The type locale for this kind of housing is New York City’s West Village, where Jane Jacobs lived when she wrote The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Jacobs was convinced that the urban planners of her day didn’t understand how cities worked, but she was just as convinced that she did understand how cities worked, and in her mind the West Village was the model.
Her book, in turn, became the model for New Urbanists. Indeed, some call her the mother of what passes today for urban design. Unfortunately, she was as wrong about how cities work as the planners she criticized.
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Although it is more symbolic than actual evidence, it is interesting to see the New Yorker fret that there are so many shuttered storefronts in the West Village today. In this case, the stores and cafés are closing because the rents are too darn high: one café saw its rent increase from $16,000 to $42,000 per month.
Cities that adopt policies that promote New Urban design almost always end up increasing land prices and development costs. Proponents claim that such policies will make those cities more attractive to young people, but they also make those cities less affordable for everyone. In the long term, the result may be more shrinking cities.
“Although it is more symbolic than actual evidence, it is interesting to see the New Yorker fret that there are so many shuttered storefronts in the West Village today. In this case, the stores and cafés are closing because the rents are too darn high: one café saw its rent increase from $16,000 to $42,000 per month.”
And the Antiplanner insinuates that this is due to “New Urban design” rather than the result of a reinflated real estate bubble fueled by low interest rates and several rounds of quantitative easing.
The West Village is old. So is Greenwich Village, which according to the article linked, has been a bohemian center since the eighteen-fifties”.
I seriously doubt the rent increases in NYC have much if anything to do with New Urban design.
“…but they also make those cities less affordable for everyone. In the long term, the result may be more shrinking cities.”
So Detroit (the obvious outlier in the US context) is shrinking because it’s too expensive? Riiiiiight.
“More than a third of the cities in Germany are losing population, as are nearly one in ten in the United States.”
Or put another way, 9 out of 10 American cities are growing! It is also important to note that the entire country of Germany has been loosing population over the last couple of decades.
All in all I would rate this a pretty bad cherry picking spin job by Mr. O’Toole. He saves himself a little with “Although it is more symbolic than actual evidence.” So at least he’s admitting it.
All in all I would rate this a pretty bad cherry picking spin job by Mr. O’Toole. He saves himself a little with “Although it is more symbolic than actual evidence.” So at least he’s admitting it.
Agreed.
Or put another way, 9 out of 10 American cities are growing!
Or close to static. But another good point. Case of the overwhelming exception here.
It is also important to note that the entire country of Germany has been loosing population over the last couple of decades.
As have many former Soviet BLOC communist countries. Bulgaria has lost about two million since the failure of its socialist state and entrance into the EU. However, Sofia, its capital city has gained 100,000 residents in the last decade. Villages are disappearing. Smaller towns are shrinking largely due to lack of economic opportunity. They’re moving to the capital or to cities in the UK or wherever they can find jobs.
Yes, these countries were once dominated by strong governments that told people how to live and often imprisoned those who showed up at a church, but those states have failed, and their replacements are not nearly as totalitarian. One would think that in this vacuum, economic opportunity would arise, but unfortunately corruption took root. At any rate, there is no connection between Eastern Europe and “New Urbanism”. Trying to make this connection is just silly.
“Look, look! Some cities are getting smaller!”
I especially enjoy posts like this in which the Antiplanner’s irritation with people’s stubborn preference for living in cities is palpable.
People don’t necessarily prefer to live in cities. They do so because that’s generally where they find economic opportunity. Small-town and rural are the most content of all residents, with 75% of them stating they would still live in a rural area if they could live any place.
I for one would GTFO of the city if I could find a decent job in a rural area or small town. Cities are cesspools.
Jane Jacobs accomplished one thing. She led the charge to stop Robert Moses from building a cross-town elevated highway right through Greenwich Village. (hard to believe that something like that was ever proposed)
She “rode” that non-highway win for the rest of her career.