Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
Newser - Current News - Breaking Stories

« Back to the grid | Next story »

Middle Class America Moves Downtown

Posted Aug 3, 08 3:56 PM CDT in US 

(Newser) – Middle class Americans are moving back downtown, pushing out minority groups and reversing the 20th century trend of "white flight," Alan Ehrenhalt writes in the New Republic. Why the shift? Downtown areas are safer, industries have moved out, and rising fuel prices make suburban commutes less attractive. "Our own cities have been changing right in front of us," Ehrenhalt writes.

Some experts debunk the trend, and others fear the creation of suburban slums, but Ehrenhalt sees a positive change—toward Jane Jacobs' vision of a safe, busy downtown where families can stroll and shop. Ehrenhalt writes that young elites "are drawn to the densely packed urban life that they saw on television and found vastly more interesting than the cul-de-sac world they grew up in."
Source: New Republic

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • Single City Dwellers Are Often Happier, Healthier

    Nov 24, 08 2:34 PM CST
    Single City Dwellers Are Often Happier, Healthier Our stereotype of the single, lonely urban dweller is all wrong. City folk who live alone often lead happier, healthier lives than married couples do in suburbia, Jennifer Senior writes in New York. “There was a time when living alone meant you were a hopeless shut-in," writes Senior, who was on her own until she was 37. "But you can’t say this if 50 percent of the households in Manhattan contain just one person.”


    More »

  • White Flight Slows, Stops, Reverses

    Jul 19, 08 7:08 AM CDT
    White Flight Slows, Stops, Reverses White Americans are reversing a decades-old trend by moving back to big cities, the Wall Street Journal reports. In cities like Boston, Washington DC, Seattle and Atlanta, the white population is rising again as suburbanites flock to live in newly trendy city centers—and affluent African-Americans move to the suburbs. Eight of the 50 largest cities saw the proportion of whites increase between 2000 and 2006. More »

  • Minorities Become Majority

    Aug 9, 07 1:12 PM CDT
    Minorities Become Majority Nonwhites account for more than half the population in 10% of all US counties and in nearly one-third of the most populous ones, new census results show. Figures through mid-2006 demonstrate the suburban flight of blacks and Hispanics and fallout from Hurricane Katrina, the Times reports. And in three dozen counties with populations over 500,000, whites are a minority. More »

Homes are selling for $1 million in Logan Square, despite the housing recession. To call the trend gentrification is to not see the larger, national shift in cities, writes Alan Ehrenhalt.   (Getty Images)
No where is demographic inversion happening faster than in Chicago, writes Alan Ehrenhalt. Young, affluent, white people are moving downtown, while immigrants and African-Americans head to the 'burbs.   (AP Photo)
With safer streets and less noise and grime than in decades past, cities like Chicago are drawing affluent, white families back to the city center.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Tags

Chicago • demographics • cities • urban revitalization • urbanization


Loading...

Today's Most Popular

[ Stories ]

Threads

Loading...

Other US Stories