Posts Tagged ‘Jane Jacobs’

The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving by Leigh Gallagher is a wonderfully accessible book for beginning urbanist that need grounding in the demographic trends that are creating opportunities for cities like Trenton.

Last year the Trenton Times carried a review of the book but it seems appropriate for Reinvent Trenton to add a few words.

Ms. Gallagher has honestly built her narrative of the drivers of new urbanism on the backs of authors that have come before her including Jane Jacobs, Richard Florida and James Howard Kunstler.   This is important for Trentonians attempting to come up to speed on the best thinking about what can drive Trenton’s growth.

The basic theme in Gallagher’s book is that fundamental demographics and attitudes are driving a shift back from suburban to urban living.  This is good news for cities and bad news for suburbs that have likely overextended their spending and debt.

The demographic trends involved include an older child bearing age, lower number of married couples and therefore fewer children.   This, coupled with a shift in attitude amongst millennials that shows a preference for urban living and against owning a car, has started a profound shift in American lifestyle.

The trend has been with us for many years says Gallagher but become most pronounced during the Great Recession that has left great swaths of suburban McMansions abandoned while home values in cities suffered only slightly.   In fact cities are now growing at a faster pace than suburbs and according to Gallagher, home builders like Toll Brothers, the Godfathers of the McMansion, have noticed.  Builders have shifted their efforts to building luxury condos, lofts and New Urbanist development that mimic older cities.

Cities like Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore have already felt the benefit.   New Jersey towns like New Brunswick, Montclair and even the post-Sandy Jersey Shore are being built with a New Urbanist feel.

The question for Trenton is will we lift a finger to ride this fundamental wave of migration?

For us it means pitching developers like Toll Brothers on our city, offering a sane development environment that works with developers instead of against them.  It includes a new tax structure.   It includes increasing our walkability, perhaps by rethinking our transit system in favor of trolleys.  And most of all it includes a small well-disciplined government that can support new development.

There are millions of young people living in our region who, given the opportunity to live in a great urban space would jump at it.   It’s up to Trenton to make help facilitate an environment that allows buyer and seller to come together.   We’re not there yet, but I can see Jane Jacobs vision of a city that constantly reinvents itself coming to life here.

I recommend The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving by Leigh Gallagher to Trentonians hoping to get an easy to read overview of our city’s possible future ($14 from Nook).

For me the other refreshing story here was who recommended the book to me.  I’ve read quite a few books on cities and have publicly bemoaned the fact that Trenton’s politicians appear to be under educated on the latest thinking.  However, in this case mayoral candidate Jim Golden recommend The End of the Suburbs and I jumped at the chance to read what was driving his thinking.

In its October 22^nd editorial, “Furthermore…. Harsh Urban Truths”, The Trentonian lays out what we in the activist community have known for some time:   Trenton is a sick city and our primary care physicians like it that way.

We’ve pondered for years the very same ideas The Trentonian brings up.  We’ve considered embarking on a journey to change our government philosophy including changing our charter. We even proposed a simple change to stagger elections that the incumbents hated.  We’ve noted author Jane Jacobs’ ( The Death and Life of Great American Cities) philosophy that government power is destructive in cities.  We’ve pointed out every bad union contract (4 on 4 off police contract), government subsidized boondoggle (Rush Crossing, LYDC Hotel) and widespread dysfunction (lack of tax base, terrible graduation rate and top ten murder rate) in Trenton.

But perhaps the biggest favor The Trentonian has done is to crystalize and put in print what’s really going on.   Something that, for the most part, we only talk about amongst ourselves.

The “Ruling Class” likes Trenton just the way it is!

People and politicians can indeed get rich on the carcasses of dying cities.  I’ve called Trenton a “company town for the underclass”.  If you can invent a program that feeds on the guilt of the wealthy and has a populist pull for politicians, then Trenton is your spot.  If you can then work the system to abuse the rules (Kahan, Mack, Penrose Properties) then you can make some money.

A poor and uninformed voting base works in your favor.  If Trenton all of a sudden had an “average” per capita income, then that money would dry up.    The opportunity for corrupt officials and the developers, contractors and others that seek to keep them in power would go away.

There are those in Trenton who are part of the “underclass economy” and think they are doing “good”.   Isles thought it was doing “good” when it developed subsidized affordable housing in the Hanover / Academy area, instead they created a ghetto.  I’m sure there are some at the Trenton Housing Authority that think they are doing “good” when they build another over-priced, out of control housing project.  I’m sure the people running methadone clinics and halfway houses think they are doing “good”.  In total, they are making Trenton a mecca for the poor.   They’re concentrating poverty in Trenton, the one place in Mercer County that can’t afford it.

But Trenton’s working and unemployed poor love it. They love subsidized housing.  Some love an overwhelmed police force.  So when a politician tells them “what there government will do for them”, promises a block party or perhaps pays them to vote or work on the campaign, they love it.  There are thousands of voters in Trenton that are easily swayed by hope and promise or maybe even a little cash on Election Day.   Thousands more trust ministers with interests that may conflict with a healthy economy, after all you can’t get a government grant to help the poor in rich cities.

We all vote with our wallets and many Trenton voters are simply voting in their interest to keep Trenton as a mecca for the poor.  So we keep electing leaders that will feed their addiction to government and non-profit support.

The only way this will change in 2014 is for three things to happen.

1)      Credible Mayoral candidates with revitalization on their minds will have to run

2)      Trenton’s tax paying middle class will need to vote in large numbers

3)      A sensible message will need to be made that shows why it’s in the best interest of the poor to vote to improve Trenton’s economy

In my opinion we’re doing pretty well on #1.   We have at least 3 candidates who appear to be honest and hell bent on revitalization with at least some approach in mind to make it happen.   This is light years beyond where we have been in the last 12 years.

As for #2 and #3, we’ll see.  It’s going to take a great campaign from each of these candidates and perhaps even a united front against the pretenders that may enter the race.   I’m hoping for a three-horse race.  I’ll support and work for one of the candidates but I won’t be crushed if either of the other two wins either (More on this later).

For the first time in a long time, I’m optimistic.

The Trenton Times reported in “A ‘Capital’ idea that may improve Trenton” that a state agency, the Capitol City Redevelopment Corporation (CCRC), is seeking the power to use taxpayer dollars through bonds and fees to become a developer in downtown Trenton.  Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, is pushing this bill through the legislature.

Bill “S-3116” greatly expands the role of CCRC by Read the rest of this entry »