{"id":1070,"date":"2007-09-14T08:12:39","date_gmt":"2007-09-14T15:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2007\/09\/rethinking_city_transformation\/"},"modified":"2007-09-14T08:12:39","modified_gmt":"2007-09-14T15:12:39","slug":"rethinking_city_transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/rethinking_city_transformation.php","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking city transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The CEOs for Cities blog flags a growing question<\/a> in community redevelopment: Is our common wisdom about revitalizing lagging cities actually true? The entry builds on this article in the Boston Globe<\/i><\/a>, questioning the perceived success of Lowell, Massachusetts, which has long been a model for other efforts nationwide.<\/p>\n

Says the Globe:<\/p>\n


\nOn key economic indicators like income growth and job creation, the city differs little from other ex-industrial cities in Massachusetts, according to a series of recent studies. Poverty in Lowell has gone up substantially since 1980. And despite its “renaissance” reputation, empty storefronts still dot Market Street, one of downtown’s main drags. Lowell’s national reputation is fading, say urban planners and community development analysts, as the city’s impressive face lift has failed to yield the expected gains for the working class.
\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The city’s efforts to repurpose old mills and warehouse buildings into condos and to invest in big-ticket community items like arenas and performing arts did have some impact on its desirability for Boston commuters. But seem to have little measurable impact on the full range of its residents. The researchers suggest that job training and basic skills development for lower-income workers would have had a greater impact.<\/p>\n

The folks at CEOs for Cities make the larger point, that saving a city from a lagging industry past isn’t a matter of picking one strategy over another:<\/p>\n


\nSadly, solving those problems requires more than a physical transformation and upscale housing. But strategies for upgrading workers’ skills and conversion of factories to housing and commercial development are not mutually exclusive. It’s not as if preserving the factories would make the manufacturing jobs return. Urban leaders have to learn how to tackle both strategies at once and take them both seriously.
\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s an argument worth watching for any cultural facility that claims positive impact on its surrounding neighborhood or its struggling downtown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CEOs for Cities blog flags a growing question in community redevelopment: Is our common wisdom about revitalizing lagging cities actually true? The entry builds on this article in the Boston Globe, questioning the perceived success of Lowell, Massachusetts, which has long been a model for other efforts nationwide. Says the Globe: On key economic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}