Did Cities Fail Us?

The past week provided a painful reminder that American cities are still unsafe for Black people. It is not a matter of politics or complex analysis. We can debate crime rates and poverty and taxes and monetary policy and gun ownership and discrimination and Police unions and personal responsibility. In fact, we should debate these things — with ea... See more

As the U.S. became more urban, it also became less equitable in terms of income distribution. And the distribution of income in cities like New York is even more unequal than the average for the whole country. The distance between the top and the bottom increased, and it became more difficult to move beyond one's existing class. Absolute economic m... See more

American cities have not been too kind to minorities because (most) American cities have not been, well, cities. They are not dense, not walkable, don't allow people to rely on public transport, don't create enough opportunity (or necessity) to interact with people from different socio-economic brackets.