Smaller cities implode as well. I was just in Newburgh, NY - a once gorgeous, historic town on the Hudson just 60 miles from Manhattan, now the murder capital of New York State. Literally. Driving around that town is like visiting the set of The Wire.
I couldn't help but think of what Newburgh would look like if it was in France, Germany or England. Probably a tourist attraction. Makes you kinda depressed at how easily Americans give up on urban areas.
It doesn't seem like there's any great pattern out there for managing a declining urban area. Everyone knows how development should work - increasing density and infrastructure - but I don't think there's a good plan for what to do when an area inevitably goes into decline (and they all do sooner or later, if only temporarily.) Like NYC in the 70s, when folks were burning down buildings because it was better than maintaining them.
I used to visit Newburgh a fair amount when I was younger. Do you think by chance the large number of historical buildings is actually whats creating part of the problem?
No, I don't think so. I'm not really sure how historic buildings could cause blight.
I know a big "urban renewal (read: slum-clearing) project in Newburgh demolished the historic waterfront in the 60s/70s. Then they never built anything to replace it.
Historic buildings can cause blight the way that any building restriction can. They limit supply and raise costs. Historic buildings in particular, affect the ability for new business owners to bring in businesses as well as limiting homeowners.
Another great example of that is Washington DC, which has incredibly strict building limitations and a large number f protected historical buildings, which means that despite massive tourism, the city is largely a slum with millions of workers choosing really long commutes over living in the city.
The urban rot problem is intrinsic to real estate. People don't sell when the value goes down. The fuckers hoard for decades (keeping prices artificially high) while the poor suffer and everything goes to hell.
Then, after something more like 30 or 40 years, real estate is affordable again (sometimes dirt cheap) and people can buy, but not most of the people who live there.
I couldn't help but think of what Newburgh would look like if it was in France, Germany or England. Probably a tourist attraction. Makes you kinda depressed at how easily Americans give up on urban areas.