Vision Circle

The most important question?

The crisis of the American cities in the 1960's and 1970's is often ascribed to racial tensions, which did indeed play a part. But Mr. Rae suggests that the problems were broader, that what was later called "white flight" actually began in the 1920's with the weakening of the city center. The tragedy, in his account, is that the great migration of blacks to Northern cities in the 1930's and 40's began at the very moment when the jobs and factories they were seeking were becoming less stable.

This snippet is taken from an article that appeared in The New York Times entitled What Should a City Be? You won't hear this question brought up in a single debate. You won't see it asked on a single Sunday News program. You definitely won't hear Bill O'Reilly talk about it...but this is the most important question of the early 21st Century from my vantage point.

Think about it this way. Cities were created largely to efficiently bring together warehouses for finished/raw product, massive labor pools, manufacturing plantations, financial engines, and shipping routes. Manufacturers left for the suburbs beginning in the fifties, then overseas...along with the warehouses. The financial centers are now largely virtual with a couple of international exceptions. The freeways have largely bypassed waterways like the Detroit River.

What we have left is the large labor pool with nowhere to go for work.