Can Buffalo Ever Come Back?

Monday, October 29th, 2007

Buffalo has dwindled to half its peak size. Can Buffalo Ever Come Back? Perhaps, but that’s missing the point, says Edward L. Glaeser:

All this spending aimed at resurrecting Buffalo as a place — very different from government aid that seeks to help disadvantaged people, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit — was destined to fail. Urban migrations aren’t random. America’s deserts and mountain ranges aren’t densely inhabited for a good reason: few people want to live in such harsh places. Similarly, people and firms are leaving Buffalo for the Sunbelt because the Sunbelt is a warmer, more pleasant, and more productive area to live. The federal government shouldn’t be bribing them, in effect, to stay in the city.

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