Discovered this article, not posted here yet, it seems, when reading the
Green Cities, Brown Suburbs link.
Can Buffalo Ever Come Back?
by Edward L. Glaeser
from City Journal - Autumn 2007
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_buffalo_ny.html
"The other old, cold cities that staved off decline, like Boston and Minneapolis, similarly reinvented themselves, with the density that once served to move cargo onto ships now helping spread the latest ideas. The key ingredient: human capital. The cities that bounced back did so thanks to smart entrepreneurs, who figured out new ways for their cities to thrive. The share of the population possessing college degrees in the 1970s is the best predictor of which northeastern and midwestern cities have done well since then.
"Buffalo wasn?t a particularly skilled city in 1970, and it isn?t one now. Fewer than 19 percent of the city?s adults boast a college degree; the number in Manhattan is 57.5 percent. Whereas New York always had some industries, such as finance, that required brainpower, Buffalo?s industries were invariably brawn-based. Buffalo wasn?t a university town like Boston, and it didn?t have Minneapolis?s Scandinavian passion for good lower education. It had the right skill mix for making steel or flour, not for flourishing in the information age."
....
"The desire of people and firms to move is just too strong. For the government to tear down old houses and build new ones in a place like Buffalo is particularly misguided. The hallmark of declining cities is having an excess of housing relative to demand."
....
"The best scenario would be for Buffalo to become a much smaller but more vibrant community?shrinking to greatness, in effect. Far better that outcome than wasting yet more effort and resources on the foolish project of restoring the City of Light?s past glory."
There are so many worthy quotes to pull from this article that are relevant to many urban (and not so urban) environments and situations. The problems of Buffalo aren't unqiuely its own, it seems.
