To the Editor,
Although the urban focus of “Other Voices” contributors Tom Foley and Ben Zimmer (“How to Fix Our Cities,” July 21, 2014) is encouraging, the priorities emphasized in the authors’ commentary reflect inattention to a number of important trends that have emerged over the past two decades.
For example, while the serious problem of crime merits discussion as they suggest, the authors do not mention the dramatic decline in criminal activity that has occurred since the 1990s, a drop that has been more pronounced in American cities and inner-ring suburbs than in outlying areas, according to a recent Brookings Institution study. Exploring that noteworthy pattern might lead to still more robust interventions. Moreover, two of the crime-fighting initiatives that Foley and Zimmer recommend be transplanted here — community policing and the development of high-tech forensic capabilities — have already been implemented in several Connecticut municipalities.
A more recent trend, emerging over the past decade or so, is organic urban renewal. U.S. cities (and downtowns particularly) have experienced an influx of young professional residents, and employers eager to attract this demographic have followed. The trend can be seen locally in Hartford’s high downtown apartment occupancy rate, as well as recent moves to the city by Microsoft’s regional headquarters, accounting firms CohnReznick and Whittlesey & Hadley, healthcare providers CareCentrix and Harvard Pilgrim, law firms Carlton Fields and Wilson Elser, and golf network Back9Network. Meanwhile, the most dramatic increases in poverty have occurred outside cities. The poverty rate rose by 64 percent between 2000 and 2011 in American suburbs, twice the rate of American cities.
Taking stock of these and other trends has valuable policy implications. To cite an example referenced by Foley and Zimmer, Pittsburgh has benefited not only from regulatory reforms, as they note, but from an embrace of “meds and eds,” the hospitals and universities whose growth has fueled the city’s recent success. Following the Steel City’s lead might suggest an emphasis on facilitating expansion by the many such institutions based in Connecticut’s cities. Recognizing the popularity of walkable, transit-accessible locations among professionals from the Millennial cohort means understanding the potential of well-planned transportation improvements and of public-private partnerships that meet the resulting demand for high-amenity apartments located near transit nodes. Addressing growing need in the suburban belt demands greater outreach from social service agencies, covering a wider geographic range.
Connecticut’s cities certainly still have room for improvement. But proceeding from the flawed premise that “struggling” cities need to be “fixed,” while ignoring the problems facing suburbs, risks shortchanging cities and suburbs alike. It would be a shame to overlook and fail to nurture the green shoots already found in our urban centers while neglecting to resolve rising suburban poverty. The Connecticut Policy Institute, the organization founded by Foley and headed by Zimmer that produced their policy recommendations, should update its analysis to ensure the development of timely responses to today’s most pressing challenges and opportunities.
Jared Chase is a staff writer and editor for the Pension Real Estate Association, a Hartford-based trade association for institutional real estate investors.
