Cities Without Suburbs

1. Cities Without Suburbs Madeline Roche, Ben Sebers and Nick Vorpagel

2. Outline • David Rusk • Cities Without Suburbs • Elasticity • Why Elasticity is Desirable • Characteristics of Elastic Cities • Conclusions • Discussion

3. David Rusk • Former Mayor of Albuquerque (1977-1981) and New Mexico State Legislator (1975-1977). • Author and consultant on urban policy throughout the US and abroad. Image from Wisconsin Alliance of Cities website.

4. Cities Without Suburbs • First written in 1993, intended primarily for urban Mayors. • Has gained critical acclaim, widespread adoption in academia, and thrust Rusk to the forefront of urban policy debate. • Most recently updated in 2003. Image from Barnes and Noble website.

5. Question Examined Why do some cities, like Houston, grow rapidly? (360% population change from 1950-2000) Image from City of Houston website.

6. Question Examined While other cities, like Detroit, grow slowly? (37% population change 1950-2000)‏ Image from www.city-data.com

7. Examining the Question • Studying cities from 1950-2000, Rusk learned 26 lessons. • He learned that in order for a city to grow, the city must be “elastic”. • Elasticity measures the ability of a city to grow. Images from www.learner.org

8. Zero Elastic Cities New York Detroit Low Elastic Cities Chicago Milwaukee Medium Elastic Cities Des Moines Cedar Rapids High Elastic Cities Kansas City Indianapolis Hyper Elastic City Las Vegas Little Rock Formula: X+3y=Elasticity Score Elastic cities have a common set of characteristics which Rusk points out in his lessons. For a number of reasons, elastic cities are more desirable than inelastic cities. What is Elasticity?

9. Distribution of Cities

10. Inelastic Cities: Older cities Grow slowly Are hard hit by the loss of industrial jobs. Posses poor education systems. Are highly segregated racially, socially and economically. Characteristics of Elastic Cities vs. Inelastic Cities • Elastic Cities: • Newer cities • Grow quickly • Generate post-industrial jobs. • Have a well-educated populace. • Are integrated racially, socially, and economically.

11. Age of Cities • Old city has an inventory of old, often decaying neighborhoods that typically house the poor • Long established black or Hispanic population in an old city may increase segregation due to social prejudices

12. Growth in Cities • Higher Elasticity areas have been able to increase not only in population but also in size of city

13. Post-industrial Job Creation • Deindustrialization hit less elastic areas harder • Most old, smokestack industries that were driven out due to international competition were mostly located in Northeast or Industrial Midwest (the more inelastic areas)

14. Race, Economy, and Social Integration

15. Elastic v. Inelastic

16. Structure of Elastic Cities • Elastic cities: • Possess forms of unified local government. • Receive favorable treatment from state and federal government.

17. Unified Local Government • Elastic cities have “big box” institutions as opposed to “little box” institutions. • Big boxes facilitate integration while little boxes foster segregation. • City-county consolidation and annexation of outlying areas allows a city to continue to grow and capture economic growth.

18. Indianapolis – Unified City

19. Detroit – Non-Unified City

20. Favorable State and Federal Treatment • The City is dependent on the state and federal government to grow. Elastic cities receive favorable treatment. • Liberal Annexation Laws provided by the state. • Federal Aid money invested in the central city rather than the suburbs.‏ Image from www.wisconsinhighways.org

21. State Annexation Laws

22. Federal Programs Promote Sprawl • Federal Housing Authority and VA support low-interest mortgages for single family homes. • Federal Highway Administration spent $874 Billion on highways, and only $147 Billion on Mass transit from 1956-2001. • Most sprawl-oriented infrastructure built in 2001 was financed 75-90% by the Federal government.

23. How to build Elastic Cities • Improve annexation laws. • Enact laws to encourage city-county consolidation. • Promote regional planning authorities.

24. Policies Elastic Cities Pursue • Diminish racial and economic segregation by pursuing mixed-income housing strategies. • Implement regional land use and transportation management schemes to reinvest into the central city. • Establish metro-wide tax bases to help equalize local revenues.

25. Questions about Cities Without Suburbs • Will cities pursuing the Rusk strategy lose jobs to cities not pursuing the Rusk strategy? • Is metropolitan government possible in places where municipalities span multiple counties, states or even countries? • Is inclusionary zoning a practical strategy to pursue on a large scale?