Joel Kotkin, a renowned author on urban issues, spoke at the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce Annual Luncheon today, and praised the work the city has done in meeting the needs of its future residents.
Kotkin, who is now a professor at Chapman University, addressed what he deemed "the metaphysical question of: what are cities for?" Reflecting on his own upbringing in Brooklyn, Kotkin mused how his "crumby" neighborhood was yet able to turn out a generation of youths that all reached the middle class, and how this might be they key purpose for modern cities -- acting as an engine for the middle class and promoting an economy of opportunity.
He would go on to encourage city officials to shun "hail mary" real estate development and "cosmetic downtown projects" in favor focusing on the families that constitute the core of a community's identity. This, in addition to an off-hand suggestion that the state exchange property tax dollars for sales tax dollars and eliminate that whole fisicalization of land use thing, made for some interesting dialogue and raises some interesting points about the overall purpose cities serve in this new millennium.
Perhaps most thought provoking, Kotkin condemns what he calls "luxury cities," such as today's New York or even California's own San Francisco, as these don't fit his model of urban centers creating a robust economy that serves all residents. One might argue that these are merely hubs of larger regional economies, but the this argument is becoming pretty familiar: walling off certain communities for the very affluent creates host of additional problems when it comes to importing a workforce, the traffic that creates and the 'talent gap' left behind when young workers leave for more affordable areas, hurting the local economy and so on. The City of Santa Barbara treated this very issue in a documentary released this year, The Price of Paradise.
So what are cities for? It's an interesting question with more than one answer, would love to hear thoughts from our readers...
