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5. THE U.S. CENTRAL/PRINCIPAL CITY

AFTER 1950: THE CONCENTRATION

OF POVERTY

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REVIEW: Principal Cities (Central Cities) and Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Titles

• The largest city in each metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area is designated a “Principal City.”

• Additional cities over 250,000 qualify if specified requirements are met concerning employment.

• The title of each metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of the names of up to three of its principal cities and the name of each state into which the metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area extends.

Suburbs• Area outside of Principal/Central Cities, but within the

boundaries of Metropolitan Statistical Area will often be referred to as the suburbs of the metropolitan area.

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The U.S. Central City and its Downtown After 1950

• Consider, that Central/Principal Cities once had most of metropolitan area populationIn 1950 in the largest metros, nearly 6 out of 10 lived in

central cities -- In 1980, only 4 out of ten did• Starting around 1950, the resident population of many large

cities began to shrink rapidly.• More than half lost population from 1950 to 1980. • Decline climaxed during the 1970s—more than 2/3rds lost

population.

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Consider Detroit

• Between 1950 and 2008, Detroit lost over a million people58% of its populationDetroit’s median family income is $33,000, half that of U.S.2009, unemployment rate was 25%, 2.5 x national averageIn 2008, Detroit had one of highest murder rates in U.S.Sharp drop in housing pricesNow in bankruptcy, taken over by state

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The Decline of U.S. Cities (or NOT)

• Many believed that large U.S. cities were dying: especially over 1960-1970s period.

• During the 1980s, the fortunes of large cities began to turn around-more than half grew again.

• During the 1990s 2/3rds of large cities (over 1 million) grew.• Can we generalize: Historically, there has been pervasive

urban decline followed by widespread urban renaissance?

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Past 50 years: Persistent Growth or Decline Patterns• In fact, large cities have either declined continuously or else

grew continuously• Relatively few cities have been able to reverse sustained

population losses• One group of large cities has declined consistently:

E.g.—St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, Newark, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Chicago

• A second group of large cities grew continuously since 1950E.g.—San Diego, Houston, Phoenix, Jacksonville, San

Antonio, Dallas, Oklahoma City, El Paso, Tampa, Phoenix, Miami, San Jose, Tucson

• Important regional dichotomyNortheast and Midwest—mainly negative growthSouth and West—mainly positive growth

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Only One Group Reversed Previous Declines

• A small group of third cities reversed losses of the 1950s-1980sNew York, San Francisco, Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland,

Seattle, Providence, Minneapolis, and Kansas CityExample: New York’s resurrection was primarily tied to an

explosion of entrepreneurship, much of which was in the financial services sector

More recently, Washington, DC

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Regional Explanations of Growth Patterns

• People moving to places with mild winters• Spread of affordable air conditioning technology during the

1950s and 1960s• Increasing number of retirees moving to better climes• Cities with persistent population losses were industrial cities,

primarily relied on manufacturing.Goods production had been force that had attracted and

retained businesses and households as these cities grew.Heavy manufacturing such as steel and automobiles was

concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest• But manufacturing has represented a declining share U.S.

employment since mid-1960s• Rise of service economy: producer services

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Decline of Manufacturing, Rise of Services• Service industries supplanting heavy manufacturing were freer

to locate throughout the country• Many South & West city economies based on agriculture,

natural resources (oil, gas), and strong service industriesParticularly knowledge-based activities

• Had manufacturing activities, but were also diversified.• West coast also home of military and defense industries.• Investors attracted by favorable business climate, lack of

unionization, and lower business costs outside of NE & MW.• Interestingly, older cities built for pedestrians and mass transit

often had lower/no population growth than newer auto-dependent cities

• In contrast, highly suburbanized, single-family home, & less public transit cities grew robustly: Raleigh, Austin, Charlotte, Jacksonville, & Orlando

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Foreign-born Residents Contributed toStrong City Population Growth Rates

• Continued growth of minority populations, especially Hispanics contrasts with minimal growth of white population

• Fueled growth of city populations

• Hispanics now outnumber African Americans and represent the largest minority group in major American cities

• 16 of the 25 cities with largest black populations registered declines in their black populations over the 2000s

• Well over half of America’s cities are now majority non-white in the 100 largest metropolitan areas

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Cities in the 2000-2010 Decade

• The 1990s' urban renaissance that ended decades of decline for many of the nation's major cities lost steam when most of America's largest cities either grew more slowly or lost people.Many urban scholars saw the 1990s as a breakthrough

decade for cities, but it may have been their high watermark for growth.“

• "The story of this decade is that even a reliable growth city like a Dallas or a Phoenix is likely to grow slower than the U.S. as a whole, and that's a big change for the Sun Belt,"

• Immigration, which soared in the 1990s, also appears to have slowed in the past decade partly because of the recession — another factor driving the urban slowdown.

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DEFINING POVERTY

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How is Poverty Defined?

• Any individual with total income less than an amount deemed to be sufficient to purchase basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, and other essential goods and services is classified as poor.

 • Original defintion of poverty based on ability of a family to buy

an adequate supply of food.

• Food represented about one-third of a family’s expenditures

• Families above poverty level had to have at least three times this food expenditure amount.

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The Census Bureau Uses a Set of Money Income Thresholds to Detect Who is Poor

• When a family's total income is less than that family's threshold, then that family, and every individual in it, is considered poor.

 • The 100% poverty ratio is the proportion of persons living

below the official poverty level.

 • Each person’s or family’s income is considered with respect to

this threshold.

 • The poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but are

updated annually for inflation—Consumer Price Index (CPI).

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Poverty Thresholds, 2013• 48 thresholds in a matrix for family size and number of

related children under age 18• Thresholds revised annually• One person, under 65 years of age: $12,119• One person, 65 years and over: $11,173

More generous threshold for young than old• Two-persons, under age 65 years of age, no <18 yrs.

Children: $15,600.• Four persons, two <18 yrs. children: $23,624

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Variation in Poverty Thresholds

• In variants of the measure, the criterion of low income specified may be some multiple of the official poverty level, such 125% or 150% of the poverty level.

• If the 100% poverty level income threshold is $10,000• Than the 150% poverty level income threshold is $15,000• And the 200% poverty level income threshold is $20,000

• Used to expand the eligibility of the near poor for social program eligibility

• Some states will establish their own poverty thresholds to determine eligibility

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Percentage Poor, 2012Different Poverty Thresholds

• Below 50% of poverty threshold 6.6%• 50% to 99% of poverty threshold 8.4%

• Below 100% of poverty threshold 15.0%

• Under 125% poverty threshold 19.7%• Under 150% of poverty threshold 24.6%• Under 200% poverty threshold 34.2%

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THE SUBURBANIZATION FACTOR

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The Suburbanization Factor: A Major Explanation

Disproportionate large numbers of people and jobs shifted from the central cities to the suburbs.

Population losses accompanied by loss of jobs, consumer expenditures, property tax revenues.

73 of the cities in largest metros lost whites (net out-migration) during 2000-2010Pace of white flight slowed somewhat in 2000s

compared to 1990s

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Poor Left Behind

• Decentralization of higher-income urbanites left behind a growing concentration of disadvantaged minority groups and new waves of immigrants.

• Cities were left with those who could not afford to move, those with no school-age children, those loyal to the homes of their ancestors (historically significant neighborhoods), or the desperate urban poor.

• Just as important: investors & households became pessimistic, further weakening the propensity to stay and invest.

• Resident flight spurs additional job loss because of declining demand for public and private services and goods such as housing and groceries.

• Guaranteed the economic decline of cities.

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THE BAD NEWS: Greater Inequality Central/Principal Cities & Older

Suburbs Versus Newer Suburbs

• Poverty in the cities is higher than in the suburbs.• Poverty in cities disproportionately affects minority

populations.• Poverty remains highly concentrated in selected

central/principal city neighborhoods.• Such high-poverty areas are often plagued by severe social

ills such as violent crime and drug abuse, as well as family problems such as teenage pregnancy.

• Many older suburbs have also experienced population and job losses as dramatic as those seen in central cities.

• The challenges faced by older suburbs are not restricted to one or two regions of the country, but are national in scope.

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Settlement Poverty Rates: 2012

Location Percent

United States 15.0

MSAs 14.6

Inside Principal Cities 20.0

Outside Principal Cities (Suburbs) 11.3

Outside MSAs 17.0

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Cities and Some Older Suburbs Lag Behind Newer Suburbs on Key Social, Economic, and Health Indicators

• Minority youth unemployment remains especially high.• People without automobiles can't easily get to jobs located in

suburbs.• The quality of schools in central cities is poorer than in the

suburbs. • Homeownership rates are lower in the central cities than in the

suburbs.• More central city residents confront housing affordability

difficulties.• The quality of the housing stock is poorer than in the suburbs.• Inadequate public services (police, fire, garbage, snow

removal).

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Inequality in Services and Housing Opportunities

• Poor people—and especially poor minorities—are often trapped in inner cities and older suburbs because of limited affordable housing options elsewhere.

• Options for poor are limited: residents in the more affluent suburbs, discourage lower income households from moving into their communities. NIMBY: Not in my back yard syndrome.

• Poorer central city jurisdictions are under tremendous pressure to expand social services for their needy residents.

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The Suburbs are not Immune from Negative Trends The populations of many older suburbs are stagnating

or declining and are becoming increasingly poor.

NB. Read percentagesacross bars

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Be sure to distinguish numbers from rates.

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THE GOOD NEWS Overall Quality of Life of Cities & Some Older

Suburbs Improved During 1990s and Early 2000s

• In decade of 2000s, among the largest metros, 67 experienced growth in their principal/central cities

Central city unemployment rates lower Increased job opportunities in the cities.  Central city poverty rates lower

Cities improved as places to live.

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• Once nonresidential neighborhoods converted to residential neighborhoods (e.g., New York city’s loft apartments.

 • Many downtowns are experiencing a new renaissance as

centers of tourism, sports, entertainment, and the arts.

• Most cities in America have a stronger balance sheet today than they did a decade ago.

 • Crime rates fell dramatically in many major cities.

 • Central city homeownership rates have started to rise.

BEST CITIES TO LIVE: WALL STREET JOURNAL

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The Decline and Rise of The Central Business District (CBD) in U.S. Cities

Review• In the early 20th century, American downtowns—shaped by

pedestrian traffic and mass transit, particularly the electric streetcar and railroad—were at their zenith.

• Streetcar systems were laid out in a radial configuration that converged on the downtown, making it the most accessible part of the city and bringing thousands of workers, shoppers, and visitors there.

• Central business district (CBD) once housed virtually all the commercial activity in the city--retailing and entertainment office/financial.

• Skyscrapers defined the downtown skylines.• After reaching its pinnacle during the 1920s, however, the

American downtown steadily declined through the 1980s.

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Populations Increasing in Many Downtowns

• Between 2000 & 2010, large metro areas (5 million plus) experienced double-digit population growth rates within their downtowns (within two-mile radius of their city hall).

• Chicago experienced the largest numeric gain in its downtown area, with a net increase of 48,000 residents over 10 years.

• New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington also posted large population increases close to city hall.

• However: New Orleans and Baltimore experienced the greatest population declines in their downtown areas (35,000 and slightly more than 10,000, respectively). Two smaller areas in Ohio ─ Dayton and Toledo ─ also saw downtown declines of more than 10,000.

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So Why Should We Care about the Downtown?

• Younger generations of U.S. population have mostly not experienced the positive virtues of downtown.

 • The desirability of higher densities (people, land uses,

housing, services, multifunctional neighborhoods).Compare with strip malls, exit ramps, and big boxes.Particularly, for those who are carlessMore vibrant neighborhood life—lots of people

 • The desirability of diversity

Downtowns: learning laboratory of society’s diversity.Racial, ethnic, age, income diversity.Housing diversityCan serve multiple roles: business, gov’t, arts,

convention, medical center, sports center, etc. • The benefits of high-rise housing opportunities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sku-1hqA5xw (1964 hit song)

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ECONOMICS: COMPACT DEVELOPMENT IS MORE COST EFFECTIVE

• Low density (in suburbs) versus high density (as in cities) development increases demand and public expense for facilities such as:

New schoolsNew roadsNew public facilitiesSewer and water extensions

• Low density development increases the public costs of: ServicesPoliceFireEmergency medical services

• Well-being of the city and the suburbs is interdependent.Reducing the demand for suburban housing….thus less

SPRAWLRestricting supply of suburban housing and its public costs

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DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION EFFORTS(from 1960s onward)

Make more pedestrian friendly• Downtowns without pedestrians lifeless and boring.• Pedestrians are what distinguish downtowns

Key message from Jane Jacobs, Death and Life of American Cities.

• Solutions:Widening sidewalksImproving safety and securityBetter sitting placesConvert major downtown streets into pedestrian malls.Limit automobile traffic and encourage transit use.Create a skywalk system of pedestrian walkways over

streets linking major hotels or retail complexes

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Palm Springs, CA

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The suburban malls may get the people on the worst days, but they won’t at all be able to compete on the decent and really nice days. Everyone would

want to be outdoors in the wonderfully alive, beautiful and open environments that a truly good, pedestrian friendly, downtown streetscape,

can offer (Tulsa OK).

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Downtown Washington, DC

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Develop Skywalks (e.g., between hotels and inside malls)

• Problem with skywalks: remove people from streets.

 • Reduce value of ground-level space.

 • Reduce street level traffic.

 • Segregate by social class.

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Create Indoor Shopping Malls

• Trying to mimic attractions of suburbs.

• Mixed use, high-rise complexes variously mixing multiple

floors of retail space with floors accommodating hotels,

convention space, condos; may be integrated with transit or

subway terminals.

• Three types:

Regional shopping malls with traditional anchor stores

Mixed use centers, integrating highrise hotels, condo

complexes with retailing

Festival market places

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Early Examples of Indoor Shopping Malls

Gallery in Philadelphia. 

Water Tower Place in Chicago. 

Tandy Center in Forth Worth. 

One of the largest downtown malls in the world, Eaton Center in Toronto, has three levels of shopping. Easy access to subway system.

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Encourage Historic Preservation

• Downtowns have architecturally distinctive old buildings.

 • Adaptive reuse:

A structure constructed for one purpose (e.g., a railroad terminal, a bank, manufacturing plant, a school, or a warehouse) is converted to a different one (e.g., a festival marketplace, a restaurant, a museum, residential lofts)

 • Private developers’ incentives are tax breaks.

Offset personal liabilities by receiving tax credits for allowable renovation and restoration expenditures.

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MAY 01, 2007 -- Seattle -- From a Buddhist temple to an automotive warehouse, sewing machine storage and athletic equipment storehouse, the Trace warehouse built in 1919 has served a wide variety of purposes in the city's 12th & Madison neighborhood. Presently, the building is once again being adapted into a different function -- an environmentally friendly, loft-style condominium development, known as Trace Lofts.

Case Study: Adaptive Reuse Attracts Green-Conscious Buyers in Seattle

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Adaptive Reuse Project in New York

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Rationale for Historic Preservation

• Importance of remembering the past: Buildings with meaningsBuildings with symbolic importance Introduce buildings other than “generica,” such as

nondescript big box retailer stores like Walmart, Lowes

• Downtown’s strength is not homogeneity, rather being different from everywhere else

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Two Common Types of Preservation Projects In Larger Cities: Historic Districts and Festival

Marketplaces

• Historic districts

A historic district is a group of buildings, properties or sites that have been designated as historically or architecturally significant.

The U.S. federal government designates historic districts through the U.S. Department of Interior, under the auspices of the National Park Service.

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Festival marketplaces

• Through adaptive reuse, festival markets are often created in such historic structures as railroad terminals, warehouses, or industrial buildings that have fallen into disuse.

EARLY EXAMPLES OF FESTIVAL MARKET PLACESUnion station in St. Louis

Faneuil Hall in Boston (fan-yul)

http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/?q=center

 Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco

 Pike’s Place Market in Seattle

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Festival Markets Differ From Traditional Shopping Malls In The Following Ways

Their unusual mix of local specialty retail shops.  The lack of anchor department stores.  The strong emphasis on entertainment and food.  The importance of historic and/or architectural themes.  Often sited at waterfront location.  Their specialized target market—affluent, well-educated,

young adults.

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PIKES PLACE MARKET, SEATTLE

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PIKES PLACE MARKET, SEATTLE

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PIKES PLACE MARKET, SEATTLE

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PIKES PLACE MARKET, SEATTLE

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Waterfront Development• The sight, sound, and feel of water naturally attract people. • Like the preservation strategy, it offers the public an amenity

not often found in the suburbs • Many downtowns are near bodies of water:

Examples:MiamiJacksonvilleChicagoBaltimoreTorontoSeattle

But also, Milwaukee, Portland, St. Louis, Baltimore, Boston

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Types of Uses

• Redevelop waterfront property into hotel, indoor malls, high-rise condos, hotel complexes, convention centers, parks, festival markets.

 • Make tourist attraction. • Generates new property tax revenues. • Nearby examples:

 Miami’s, Bayside MarketplaceJacksonsville’s, Landings.

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SEATTLE’S WATERFRONT

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Miami’s waterfront

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Boston’s Waterfront Development

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• ON an empty stretch along the South Boston waterfront, hundreds of guests and dignitaries gathered in late September 2007 to celebrate the groundbreaking for Fan Pier, a 21-acre, $3 billion mixed-use development. If you squinted just right, you could almost imagine a vibrant neighborhood of parks, residences, hotels, office buildings and shops rising from the barren landscape there.

• For those who have long envisioned a revitalized Seaport District, as the area is known, the groundbreaking marked the end of a decades-long saga.

• The area — roughly 1,000 acres of waterfront property across the Fort

Point Channel from Boston’s financial district — served as rail yards for Boston’s working port until about 1955, when heavy industry there dried up. After that, the land was used mostly for parking lots.

• As market conditions waxed and waned, this prime waterfront real estate

sat untouched, earning it the reputation as the most scenic parking lot in Boston. “A lot of folks had hopes for 25 years,” said Thomas M. Menino, the mayor of Boston. With the start of construction of Fan Pier, he said, “that dream has become a reality.”

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Office Development• Office sector is a critical component in the vitality of

American downtowns. • Office development transform downtowns into centers of

financial, administrative, and professional services.

• Attracts professionals, well-educated workers, business visitors

 • Offices (its occupants, clients, and visitors) serve as feeders

to other hotels, stores, and restaurants.

• Encourages mixed use megastructures • Offices form the building blocks of the downtown skyline—

symbol of modern corporate city.

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Promoting a New Downtown Base

• Urban entertainment district

• Promoting conventions, conferences, workshops, and trade shows and linked hotel, business, and tourist activities.

 Examples: Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Chicago, New

Orleans, and San Francisco. Jacksonville and the Superbowl.

 • Not always successful: high cost, and market saturation.

• Downtown Denver’s light rail system

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Streetcars Revitalize Downtowns: A Streetcar Named Aspire: Lines Aim to Revive Cities, Tampa, June 20, 2007

• Proponents say Tampa's Teco Line Streetcar System has helped to spur development. Some $450 million in residential and retail space is complete along the route, most of it in the Channel District, a once-languishing maritime neighborhood. With another $450 million in development underway and $1.1 billion in the planning stages, local officials expect the district to be home to as many as 10,000 residents within the next decade.

• Out-of-town visitors make up more than half of all the riders on Tampa's streetcar line.

http://on.wsj.com/PaUTIV

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Downtown Housing

• Downtown revitalization restricted: no longer functions on a 24 hour-a-day basis.

 • A 9-to-5 downtown, leaving city streets deserted during

evening and weekend periods. • Freeways were originally designed as main streets to bring

more people and activity to the downtown area, but they had the opposite effect:They encouraged decentralization of people’s activity and

residential areas.

Need to promote downtown rental/condo housing market

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Many Benefits to Promoting Downtown Housing

• Housing helps create a "24-hour" downtown: a place with around the clock retail, entertainment, and office activitySafer; consumer necessities, more neighborhood feel

• Downtown residents form a built-in market for downtown retailers and entertainment, museums, theaters, and sports facilities.

• Downtown housing reduces suburban sprawl and helps metropolitan areas correct a major jobs/housing imbalance in what is often still a region's largest employment hub.

• Better use of less marketable/vacant office space—by converting to apartments.

• Improves a city's tax base.

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Luxurious High-Rise Residential Condo Developments to Attract Residents

Back to City

Atlanta -- Cooper Carry, a global architecture firm, has designed The Astoria at The Aramore, an upscale mixed-use community on Peachtree Street in Atlanta.

The 16-story project will include 71 condominiums.

One-, two- and three-bedroom condos will be priced from the $400,000s to the $900,000s. They will feature high ceilings and balconies.

Amenities will include a lap pool, heated spa, outdoor fireplace, garden, poolside cabanas, poolside summer kitchens and grilling areas as well as a state-of-the-art fitness center overlooking a sundeck, clubroom with catering kitchen, media room, concierge and guest suites.

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The Denver Downtown Neighborhood Context consists of mixed-use residential, office, commercial and retail uses in large buildings. It also includes historic structures and districts that define the character of Downtown

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SHAPING AN AGENDA FOR DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT

• Maintain high-density levels. Compactness keeps downtowns walkable and destinations accessible (Jane Jacobs).

 • Zoning should not restrict growth. Successful downtown

relies on new construction, taller structures, and higher densities.

 • Emphasize historic preservation. • Maintain and/or develop true civic public spaces, which are

important to a community's identity and cannot be replicated in private indoor malls.

 • Do not underestimate the importance of street-level activity.

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SHAPING AN AGENDA FOR DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT (con’t)

• Plan for a multi-functional downtown—offer diverse activities such as housing, work, shopping, culture, entertainment, government, and tourist attractions.

 • A downtown should reflect history, culture, and economy that

are unique to its region. • Rather than copying the features of suburbia, downtowns

should develop attributes and opportunities not found in the suburbs (e.g., waterfront development, historic preservation, cultural facilities, pedestrianization).

 • Establish a distinctive sense of place.