NYC-WTC_000230725

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

THE Wall street journal, WedwesdaV. ^ictober 24,2001 factors, still will want to live or work in the - urban core. These include those who have ■ been flocking to places like New York over 1 the past decade-creative people, the young, single, childless couples, lovers of the arts, and immigrants. The key to the next urban renaissance lies here: luring the often talented and highly motivated- minority that craves the edgineas and per-' sonal contact that only great agglomera­ tions can provide. To do so, and to fend oH'> challenges from second-tier cities, majoL urban centers like New York must giver priority to those issues that matter most tb'- this demographic: cultural amenities;.. lower taxes, greater public safety, and clean streets. ,? . In the process. New York will change; ■ ; as all great cities always change. After the,. early ’90s’ riots and natural disasters in;. LA, the city was forced to abandon the' ' long-time, heavily subsidized dream of,. turning downtown into “Manhattan West.’L. The economy rebounded, but the corpor; rate focus shifted to the West Side, the Sap/ Fernando Valley and other centers closer,. to where knowledge workers lived. Over,- time, downtown reinvented itself, largely. as a thriving center for immigrant busi,-.. ness. Underutilized Areas ' Similarly, l^^w York will have to' adapt to a geographic redefinition. The ultra concentration of lower- Y \ Manhattan will likely never re/ lirn. Iitit market forces could seef growth spread to other parts of' \ Manhattan, and to well-l> XV cated but now grossly un-' derutilized areas like- 1 downtown Brooklyn' and Harlem. Like' L Gotham a century-

H a ago, a renewed New York can' now use more of its physical en-’ dowment. Rebuilding,■■■’ Millam Bramhall New York on tbis' new vision would be the best answer to the/ terrorists. A city, New York or any other,' is more than a collection of steel and glass, connected by fiber optic cables. It is a’ living, breathing organism whose various. parts function together with reasonable ef-* [iciency. It also possesses a kind of soul, with a sense of itself, that leads its citizens to adapt to challenges both as individuals.. and as part of a greater urban enterprise. V In the digital age, ultimately, the most important characteristics are those-. sense of place, excitement, willpower and commitment-that have withstood bar­ baric assault from the days ol antiquity, and can do so again. Mr. Kotkin is a senior fellow al the , Davenport fnsdCiite for Pabtic Policy a( Pepperdme Dtuoersiiy and at the Milken ' Instihite. He is aiMor of "The New Geog- , raphy: How the Diffiiu! Herotnlion is He- ’ shapimi the American Landscape" (Ran­ dom House. 2(iOV-

CITY_21MC100_011831494

NYC-WTC_000230726