Beautiful City

Hello Everyone:

It is a very sad Monday.  Once again, the United States is reeling from back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.  Enough already, do something about it.  It has gotten to the point where just walking out of the house   The president's response to the deaths of 31 people was to blame video games and mental illness.  He attempted to tie background checks to immigration reforms.  Essentially, everything else but his own politicization of divisive language and actions.  Here is a thought, first, if you are not the shooters' psychiatrists, do not feel free to make a diagnosis.  Second, "Call of Duty" does not cause radicalization.  The majority of the white supremacists have been simmering for a long time.  They are not mentally ill or play too many video games.  There is no one cause or one solution.  Only thing is certain, enough is enough.

10 most beautiful cities in the United States
wanderu.com

Do attractive cities have a real advantage over less attractive cities?  Economists call it a beauty premium (nytimes.com; Apr. 6, 2006; date accessed Aug. 5, 2019), "better-looking people tend to earn more money and are more successful at the career" (citylab.com; May 15, 2019; date accessed Aug. 5, 2019).  What about cities?  Do some cities benefit from the beauty premium?  The short answer is yes; we know this because a new study published by urban economists suggests that this is true.

Beautiful city: Leisure amenities and urban growth (onlinelibrary.wiley.com; Apr. 1, 2019; date accessed Aug. 5, 2019), by Gerald A. Carlino of the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia and Albert Saiz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studied the connection between a city's beauty and key growth indicators.  This differs from previous studies, which focused on the establishing the connection between economic and population growth and amenities (e.g. museums, galleries, parks, boutiques).  This study takes a deeper look at effect of how beautiful a city is.

The researchers' used a unique methodology to gauge a city's level attractiveness: "...through tourist visits and photos of picturesque location.  The photo data comes from Panoramio, a now-discontinued photo-sharing app embedded in Google Maps that geotagged, aggregated, and curated photos of scenic places around the world" (citylab.com; May 15, 2019).  Tourism information was courtesy of the travel consultancy D.K. Shifflet & Associates.

Chicago, Illinois
magical.planet.com

The study used its own measure of urban aesthetic to more established measures of urban amenities: parks, historic places, proximity to coastlines, scenic landscapes, tourism, and more.  The researchers at the connections between beautiful places, key indicators of urban economic growth, and gentrification in and around the urban center from 1990 to 2010.

The study found significant evidence of the beauty premium for cities and neighborhoods.  Richard Florida writes, "A city with twice as many picturesque location as another city saw 10 percent growth or greater in population and jobs from 1990 to 2010" (citylab.com; May 15, 2019).  Here are the numbers, "A city with twice as many picturesque locations as another city saw 10 percent growth or greater in population and jobs from 1990 to 2010" (Ibid)  There is even monetary incentive: the connection between attractive cities with lower taxes is an indicator of overall urban population growth.  Further, attractive cities disproportionately draw a greater share of college graduates.  "Cities in the top 25 percent of picturesqueness saw nearly 3 percent higher growth in the number of the college grad than those in the bottom 25 percent" (Ibid).

Los Angeles, California
onthegotours.com

With beauty, comes a price.  That price is greater housing appreciation.  "Housing values were 16 percent higher in the top quartile of picturesque cities than the bottom, according to the study" (Ibid).  The beauty premium affected every category, even more than tourist visits and amenities.

The study also found that a city's attractiveness had no impact on its size.  Small and medium-sized with a lot of parks, scenic landscapes, historic places, good weather are perceived as beautiful as well

Savannah, Georgia Historic District
magical.planet.com

Metropolitan areas are not the only places that benefit from the urban beauty premium, the specific neighborhoods within them also share in the premium.  A number of studies have documented "the back-to-the-city movement of younger, more educated, and more affluent people to the urban center" (Ibid).  The numerous studies typically measured the urban migration into neighborhoods close to the Central Business District, the downtown commercial of a city.  This is where gentrification frequently takes place, in nearby warehouse, factory, and logistics districts, think New York's SoHo, Tribeca, and most recent Chelsea and the Meatpacking District.

The High Line
New York City, New York
timeout.com

The researchers identified a new type of neighborhood that draws newcomers: the Central Recreational District, defined as "the prevalence of parks, historic places, landmarks, tourist destinations" (Ibid)--i.e Instangrammable sites.  Think the High Line (thehighline.org; date accessed Aug. 5, 2019) in New York City.  The once blighted former elevated railroad tracks have been transformed into one of the most highly desirable areas to live and recreate, as well as one of the most visited and photographed.  The CRDs, not the CBDs, are the catalysts for the back-to-the-city movements, as more affluent and educated people migrate toward a city center's abundant amenities and beauty.  Gerald Carlino and Albert Saiz wrote,

Despite worse initial economic conditions, CRDs managed to grow faster than other comparable neighborhoods,... (citylab.com; May 15, 2019).

Housing costs, incomes, and education grew relatively faster in beautiful neighborhoods.  The researchers continue:

Again, you can see this in the luxury condo tower that have sprung up along the High Line with their higher price tags and affluent residents,.... Distance to CDB was most irrelevant to the economic and demographic evolution of urban neighborhoods in the U.S., once we control for access to lifestyle amenities.  While the American central city did not come back in the 1990s, the beautiful city within flourished... (Ibid)

Baltimore, Maryland
baltimore.org

Beautiful cities and neighborhoods do not just naturally.  They are creatures of sound public policy and investment.  Of course, some places have more natural beauty than others, for example of scenic coastlines or historic places.  Cities can and do make themselves more attractive as a way to draw more educated and affluent people by investing wisely in parks, protecting historic landmarks and spaces.  This is a modern phenomena.  Richard Florida explains, "Many of America's most striking landmarks--its great parks, museums, and architecturally striking public buildings--are products of the City Beautiful movement [nypap.org; date accessed Aug. 5, 2019] and New Deal spending" (citylab.com; May 15, 2019).

The point is "Urban beauty is a powerful tool for economic growth and urban resurgence, but with comes gentrification and displacement" (Ibid).  As Messrs. Carlino and Saiz put it,

Rents, incomes, and education attainment increased faster in urban beautiful neighborhoods but at the cost of minority displacement (Ibid).

Does this mean that cities should allow amenities like cultural institutions, historic places and spaces to deteriorate in an effort to stave off gentrification?  No, that would be foolish.  However, urban policy makers have yet to assess the full cost and benefits of urban beautification.  One approach is requiring developers of new luxury residences adjacent to publicly beloved amenities to pay more taxes, set aside affordable housing units, or employ local residents in their projects.  All plausible suggestions.  Other plausible suggestions include "...increased revenues from beautification projects to affordable housing, workforce development, and the reduction of concentrated poverty" (Ibid).

One quick point to mention in closing, Beautiful city: Leisure amenities and urban growth noted the obvious, concentrated poverty is bad for tourists' perception of a city's beauty.  Gerald Carlino and Albert Saiz optimistically write,

...points to an important motivation for poverty alleviation: By reducing inequality, cities become attractive for everyone--including the rich (Ibid)

Inclusion is beautiful