Flight from -the Suburbs?

As I've mentioned numerous times in this blog, post-World War II those that could moved out of the dirty, crowded, and sometimes dangerous cities into the clean, spacious, new, and crime-free suburbs. And a lot of people have stayed there, raised their children (my parents) there, who in turn raised their children there (ie my generation)

But part of the reason that people don't move to the cities is due to outdated paradigms as is pointed out in Aaron Renn for Urbanophile, cited in Streetsblog's March 7th, 2011 article, "Is Generational Turnover Necessary for the Return of Cities?"

http://streetsblog.net/2011/03/07/is-generational-turnover-necessary-for-the-return-of-cities/

"Gen-X and the Millennials have a much more optimistic and positive views of urban areas than baby boomers and previous generations. I think this results from the rupture that those earlier generations experienced when our urban cores declined. If you read a newspaper interview of someone in that age bracket, you always hear the stories about the wonderful things they did in the city when they were younger. It was the land of good factory jobs, the downtown department store where their mothers took them in white gloves for tea, of the tidy neighborhoods, the long standing institutions and rituals – now all lost, virtually all of it. Unsurprisingly, this has turned a lot of people bitter. Many people saw everything they held dear in their communities destroyed, and they were powerless to stop it.

For people about my age or younger, it’s a very different story. None of us knew any of those things. Our experience is totally different. We’ve basically never known a city that wasn’t lost. Gen-X, which Jim Russell views as the heartland of Rust Belt Chic, is a generation defined by alienation, so the alienated urban core suits our temperament perfectly. The Millennials of course have a very different attitude towards cities." -Aaron Renn,

http://www.urbanophile.com/2011/03/06/the-rupture/

Not all of my peers, even and especially in planning, want to settle down and/or raise their kids in the cities. And I don't blame them. The cities aren't for everyone. I always grew up with a backyard and if I have (don't get your hopes up Mom, this is merely a hypothetical exercise) kids, I'd like them to have one too. Meanwhile, my friend C was born and raised in Chicago and barely had a small plot of grass for her backyard. But she would rather (to paraphrase Arrested Development) be dead in the city, than alive in the suburbs (for trivia nuts, Lucille Bluth said that she'd "rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona" But the perceptions of "the city" need to be reexamined.

A prime example can be found in Newark, New Jersey. Scott Raab wrote an article for Esquire about Newark and its mayor, Cory Booker, for whom I have nothing but respect. Mayor Booker's picture is in the cited Streetsblog article

http://www.esquire.com/features/cory-booker-0708?click=main_sr

However, Mayor Booker wasn't entirely enthralled with the piece. See below for his rebuttal}

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/booker-letter

It brings to mind the demand to stop the fetishizing of places like Detroit with the so-called "ruin porn" as I'd mentioned my January 31st, 2011 post, "All We Are Saying is Give Detroit a Chance."

Yes, cities can be dirty, gritty, and loud. But they also have amazing food that you'll never encounter at the mall food court, venues that bring cultural events that only come to cities not suburbs, and a heart that is constantly pulsating with life unlike the static suburbs. And to be a bridge and tunnel person isn't the same when you can experience this rush every day. It may not be for everyone and it can be frustrating dealing with neighbors who play their music at all hours, getting bumped by people who don't apologize, and wondering if one could take a decontainment shower worthy of post-radiation exposure before stepping inside one's apartment at the end of a day. But I can all but guarantee you that if you come to the city you won't get shot, raped, or mugged- if you act like you know what you're doing. Come on in! the water's fine, and you'll miss out on a lot if you just stand on the sideline.