"The first requisite of happiness is that a man be born in a famous city." - Euripides
American cities used to be the wonders of the world, containing superb architecture, wealth, transportation, industry, parks, homes, and landscaping. No other land had comparable metropolises of such impressive dimensions, both horizontally and vertically. Songs were written about Manhattan Towers, Manhattan being, "An Isle of Joy," "Meet me in St. Louis," leaving one’s heart in San Francisco, and Chicago, that "Tod'lin Town." We had splendid train, trolley, subway, and interurban lines that whisked us, pollution free and at low cost, to magnificent center city shopping districts that featured enormous movie palaces, and department stores with pipe organs that played concerts for happy shoppers and theatre goers. Our cities' streets were tree lined, paved, with ample parking, wide sidewalks with curbs, gutters, and storm drains that effortlessly swished away water from melting snow and cloudbursts. Our skies were an unpolluted blue, and people used to take so much pride in their homes, that daily scrubbing of front steps was common. American cities dazzled an entire world audience of admirers.
Now, all is literally gone. Detroit was one of our showplaces, possessing a central business district and broad avenues fanning out in all directions. Detroit had a wonderful Union Station, opulent, deluxe hotels, grand department stores, and fine neighborhoods. Plenty of jobs with General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler headed the employment list. Detroit today, is a burned out shambles. There is virtually nothing left in Detroit. Only the suburbs prosper. Halloween brings arson-for-the-fun-of-it each year, and daily there are murders, muggings, abandonments, and crime beyond all tallies. Detroit may be an excessive example, but most major cities are, to a lesser degree, the same. In Detroit, there are so many abandoned department stores, hotels, and other formerly wondrous downtown buildings, that a Chilean artist has suggested, according to a Dow Jones Capitol Marketing Report, that "Twelve blocks, of downtown be left as picturesque ruins. Walls would crumble to expose steel frames, trees would grow through ceilings, and wild animals native to the area—deer, opossums, bats, owls, ravens, and snakes would be encouraged to return." A sort of inner city art form?
The last time I was in Detroit, I picked up a white tee shirt with imitation bullet holes on it, and lettering that read, "I’m bad. I vacationed in Detroit and survived."
Los Angeles, and especially the so-called "south central" area, is a no man's land. When a young teen in 1948, I visited my aunt and uncle who lived on Fernwood Ave., in Lynwood. It was delightful, with crystal clear skies and the Pacific Electric "red cars" running by the door. I recently dug out color home movies I took of that home in 1948, and I exaggerate not. Now it is dangerous to walk the streets, even in broad daylight in Lynwood. Los Angeles air is unbreathable...literally...due to everyone moving further away, to escape Lynwood, Compton, Southgate, Watts, and similar L.A. areas, and having to drive, drive, drive. The "freeways" generating the foul air, due to the hundreds of millions of miles driven daily, are mostly built on the rights of way of the old Pacific Electric Lines, which at one time ran 2700 trains daily, on 1,075 miles of track. The statement, "hundreds of millions of miles daily," is no exaggeration. In Denver Colorado, with two interstates traversing, no "freeways," and far lower population, over forty million miles are driven daily by commuters. Now it is "freeways" everywhere, crime, unbreathable air, and no tax base, which pass for identifying trademarks of our cities. Central Los Angeles is gone.
Washington D.C. is a joke; the murder capital of the world, with one section of it, the third ward, now trying to secede. I was born, raised and went to school and college there, but I am ashamed to admit it. "Outside of the killings, we have one of the lowest crime rates in the country." - Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry
New York City has been decaying for decades. The hundreds of thousands of lost jobs due to high taxes and confiscatory bureaucracy is only part of the problem. Like Los Angeles, the air is putrid and poisonous in New York. In most major cities of America, it is not safe to live, walk, work, or even be entertained in them. The once majestic cities of America have lost thousands of architectural treasures; and are unsafe, unhealthy, and bankrupt in many cases. As of early 1997, Miami Florida had so much debt, $56 million, that it couldn’t pay its bills, and asked for federal assistance. No wonder there is a wholesale exodus to small towns. New Orleans, Boston, Atlanta, St. Louis, etc. are all disasters, so don’t try to name one that isn't.
How did it happen? The decline of our cities really began to surge in the mid 1960's with the passage of a little known Federal Housing Administration (FHA) piece of legislation called the "235" program. This allowed virtually anyone to buy a home, just about anywhere, with little or no qualification, and mostly with no down payment. It was a typical politician's tactic to help those who were supposedly needy. The consequences were that it destroyed American cities, and did it pretty quickly.
I was living in Philadelphia at the time; West Philly as a matter of fact. I arrived there in May of 1963, and soon bought a fine stone and brick duplex at 5814 Hoffman Ave. I liked it so much that I bought three other small apartment buildings in West Philly, a rental house, plus ten additional buildings in other sections of Philly to house my chain of 10 Bijou Iced Creme Parlours, a total of 15 buildings. It was really nice! Foster Bixler lived next door, and we used to water our tiny lawns and discuss just about everything. He worked for Philadelphia Gear Works, and I was developing my iced creme parlour chain. Nice people and nice times. West Philly had been a working class section for close to a hundred years. Bounded on the south by Elmwood Ave., the north by Girard Ave., the east by 40th St., and west by 63rd St., West Philly had trolley lines on all main east-west avenues, bus and trolley lines ran north and south, and Pennsylvania Railroad commuter stations were conveniently placed. Tens of thousands of neatly kept row houses, tree lined streets, quick, cheap travel to center city shopping, hundreds of wonderful churches, schools, corner stores, bars, theatres, and restaurants, adequately described West Philly.
It's all over now. West Philly is a no man’s land. It looks like a war zone. Abandoned buildings, cars, filth, predation, and wretchedness, are all that remain. It is dangerous to go to west Philly now, even in daylight hours. I watched west Philly go, and it was painful to say the least. I saw a wholesale exodus of people who had owned their homes, raised their kids decently, participated in church and neighborhood activities, and had pride in their little part of the world. It happened in West Philly as it happened to the Anacostia and other sections of Washington D.C, plus neighborhoods in the rest of American cities, because politicians believed they could alleviate imagined hardships by passing legislation to help and equalize. The consequences of these 'programs' were to destroy what America had held forth as a shining example to the rest of the world: Our magnificent cities.
As our cities declined, their tax bases withered. It is impossible to collect property taxes on abandoned, burned out, vandalized houses or vacant lots in lost neighborhoods. With the loss of the tax base, taxes were raised on remaining residents and businesses in the cities, causing them to move to suburbia, escaping the taxes and blight. Downtowns became empty at night, workers fleeing as fast as their places of work dismissed them. Pollution free, streetcar lines, once used in mid day by shoppers going to center city areas, plus workers going to and from work mornings and evenings, were now seldom used for travel at any time. Transit lines lost money, and trolley lines serving the now blighted areas went unused and vandalized, causing the transit companies to go broke. Our once glorious downtown shopping areas in major cities went to seed. "F" and "G" streets in Washington D.C., and Walnut and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, with their glittery department stores, are but a distant memory. The stores couldn’t make it without the day shoppers, who now were patronizing suburban branches in shopping centers, which were close to their new homes. Homes they were forced to buy.
In 1921, America had over 80,000 trolleys carrying 14 million people on 44,400 miles of track, the industry employing 500,000 men. In that same year, there were only 9 million automobiles in America, or one for every eleven people. Today there are almost one for each person, including children and babies.
Speaking of the once grand transit systems serving vibrant cities, I have a copy of the annual report to the stockholders of the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC), for the year 1941. Philadelphia public transit is now SEPTA, (Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) a governmental agency losing hundreds of millions a year. In 1941 it was privately owned, and the stockholder's report shows the condition of the once wonderful city that PTC served. The figures are in 1941 value dollars, which were 17 times as valuable as 2000 dollars, based on the current selling prices of cars, real estate, food, and even fares paid to ride. Workers for PTC made 78¢ an hour, and the fare was 8¢. Even then, the assets of the company were over $122 million, or over $2 TRILLION in current debased dollars. PTC was healthy, paid dividends to shareholders, and carried many millions of passengers each month. Each day in 1941, the streetcars and buses ran 242,000 miles. Expanding trackage and equipment purchases were continual items in the budget. In 1940 and 1941, PTC bought 130 new trolleys, 383 new buses, and 50 new electric trackless trolleys. The City of Brotherly Love was prospering, as was its transit system.
Another interesting figure bears analysis, and that is the 242,000 miles traveled each day by the PTC vehicles. Today, Philadelphia is surrounded by suburbs, occupied by people and their offspring who fled the city beginning about 35 years ago. In 1941, most lived and worked in the city. The population of Philly in 1941 was two million within the city limits, far more than today. Probably 242 million miles are currently driven each day to get to and from work in the Philadelphia area. Is it any wonder the air in Philadelphia is putrid? People didn't have to drive hundreds of millions of miles a day in 1941. All they had to do was walk to the corner, drop an eight cent token in the fare box, and never have to worry about parking, traffic jams, or for that matter, crime or unbreathable air in their lovely neighborhoods. Philly air was clean in 1941.
As the cities declined and suburbs expanded, new highways had to be built. Households, which in former times used an automobile only for special occasions, used them daily, and often had to have two just to survive. Oil consumption grew, and the air became filled with rancid smog, poisonous gasses and particulates. Dad, when the family lived in the city, used a convenient bus or form of rail transport to whisk him to and from the office or plant. Now, Dad and Mom both have to work, fight traffic, take extra time commuting each way, and watch their kids suffer from having to be left at day care centers, rather than being lovingly raised by caring parents. Household debts escalated, purchasing endless amounts of gasoline, repairs, and replacing worn out cars. Federal, state, county, and urban debt grew like Topsy, providing and maintaining multi-lane lane roads for commuters. The air got so bad, that more regulations were written to curb air pollution caused by millions of cars, making replacement vehicles even more expensive. Before the cities declined, they were clean, livable, virtually crime free, and hospitable. Cities were convenient, well built, and had millions of durable brick row homes constructed with the finest woods, high ceilings, and expertly fitted doors and windows. When the cities went, the homes were trashed by their new occupants, who had no idea of how to care for them or the neighborhood, and didn't even care.
I must clarify the "filthy air over the cities" remark. During the days when coal was burned in locomotives and home furnaces, there was a great deal of soot generated, which almost immediately fell to the earth, rather than staying in the air as does chemical smog, which is generated by literally hundreds of millions of internal combustion engines running every day in America. In the "coal days," there were perhaps 10% of the internal combustion engines currently running in airplanes, autos, and locomotives. Burning coal is "external combustion," which does not generate smog. Pittsburgh and other steel mill cities had pretty bad air from the coal and coke fired mills, but Los Angeles and the rest of America had wonderful air, which did not block the blue heavens from view. Pittsburgh cleaned itself up in 1949, without the force of federal bureaucracy. Today, a 40-year-old just cannot realize how beautiful and wonderful the cities were before freeways, smog, ghettos, abandoned neighborhoods, and hundreds of millions of miles being driven daily...just to exist. No one was worried about the earth's supply of oil, because not much of it was being used, and America was totally self sufficient in oil. The Arabs sweltered and starved in their sand patches, and the very idea of OPEC and super rich, swank, Arab desert kingdoms would have been laughable 40 years ago...comparable to pigs flying. Tidal waves of currency had not yet descended upon the oil rich deserts of the turbaned sheiks.
Scientists have noted that there has been a 30% increase in the carbon dioxide content of earth's atmosphere, due to the burning of fossil fuels; especially oil. They have also theorized that the wild weather, storms, hurricanes, snow, tornadoes, "El Nino," etc. are being caused by this increase in carbon dioxide. Remember, literally billions of gallons of gasoline are being burned daily in America alone, by commuters driving to and from work. They must drive long distances on crowded roads, because the cities are lost. Hundreds of thousands of diesel trucks drive on the highways 24 hours a day, plus thousands of airline flights are operated. Has the loss of the cities and the huge increase in oil consumption been one cause of the destructive weather we have suffered of late? Many believe it is possible.
The fact that I speak of times a current "baby boomer" or "generation Xer" cannot remember, understand, or even imagine, does not negate the fact that America was far more productive, clean, crime and drug free, and desirable than it is now. Of course a 40 year old cannot imagine not having to lock one's doors, doing without alarm systems and bars on the windows, being able to see blue skies, or live in intact, beautiful cities without having to spend hours commuting in autos. It probably sounds like a 'pipe dream,' but America was that way 40 years ago. Young people don't know what they have missed, because they have never experienced it. Had they lived then, they might be as outraged as I am when remembering it. Had you never experienced love, sex, or even ice cream, imagine how difficult it would be to convey it through words, spoken or printed. This is the problem when trying to describe America's major cities of 50 years ago. Mere words cannot describe them.
Modern cars have radial tires, disc brakes, cruise control, air conditioning, air suspension, solid state ignition, computers, and don't have to be tuned for 100,000 miles. It is common now to use super efficient insulation, double and triple glazed windows, solar, foam rubber, pre-pasted wallpapers and floor tiles, efficient lighting, picture windows, huge TV screens, VCR's, DVD's, solid state electronics, cellular phones, computers, faxes, and the Internet. These inventions are magnificent, and make our lives easier, but they have nothing to do with the loss of our cities, a tragedy of worldwide wonderment.
Neither the major cities of America, nor the homes in them, went to seed because they were worn out. Suburbia didn't happen because the cities and homes had become too small, decrepit, or old fashioned. The beautiful downtown shopping areas didn’t wear out or become obsolete, nor did the pollution free, cheap to use, trolley and rail lines transporting shoppers and workers outlive their usefulness. Neither Wanamakers in Philly, or Woodward and Lothrup in Washington were falling down, but were among the finest physical shopping plants in the world. I remember "F" and "G" streets as a child and adult in Washington D.C. Streamlined, silent, trolleys, without overhead wires, operated on both, originating in all parts of the city, carrying shoppers in daytime, plus workers morning and evening. I remember Lansburghs, Kanns, The Hecht Co, Woodward & Lothrup (Woodies), and Garfinkels department stores, all with splendiferous display windows, especially at Christmas, possessing finest mahogany showcases and department store appurtenances. I remember the fast elevators, pipe organ at Woodies, and the entire shopping area on those streets lined with specialty shops, fine restaurants, bakeries, jewelry stores, and theatres. There were Loew's Capitol, Palace and Columbia theatres on "F" St., all of which showed first run movies, often with a stage show, and no parking available. Most travel was done on the trolley lines, which caused no pollution. If you bought something that was difficult to handle, stores gladly delivered at no charge. My parents used to buy my shoes at Riches shoe store, and we often lunched at Reeves, which had perhaps the most delicious strawberry pie I have ever tasted.
In Philly, a fast trolley ride or train from Pennsy's Angora station took me underground to Center City, where the John Wanamaker department store was said to be the world's most beautiful. I believe it. It had the largest playable pipe organ in the world, concerts twice a day, a huge center court reaching eight storeys in height, and wonderful merchandise, furnishings, and construction. (The largest pipe organ in the world is located in Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Only part of it plays because of damage from a hurricane and flood in 1936. It has never been restored) On Wanamaker's ninth floor was the Crystal Tea Room, undoubtedly one of Pennsylvania's most beautiful restaurants. Chestnut Street had great men's shops such as Jacob Reed's Sons and Morville's, plus equally fine women's clothing establishments. There were magnificent jewelry stores such as Bailey, Banks, and Biddle, and Caldwell's, where I bought my sterling flatware and china 37 years ago. I still wear a Harris Tweed sport coat from Morville's, which has been gone for over fifteen years. Center City Philly was wonderful, with a dozen first run theatres, great restaurants, shops, and department stores. I am certain that anyone who grew up in other parts of America can remember the fine neighborhoods and shopping areas that were served by rail lines causing no pollution, and when the automobile wasn't really necessary other than for special occasions. My parents' 1940 Plymouth averaged only 2,500 miles a year.
In Philly, in the 3800 block of N. Broad St., I bought three brand new Mercedes Benz autos from Keenan Motors. Down at the corner of Erie Ave., was the beautiful, multi-storey Beury building, a magnificent art deco office building with impressive lobby, huge bronze doors, and fancy elevators. Keenan Motors was a pile of rubble, and the Beury Building was abandoned when I last visited Philly in 1995. The John Wanamaker department store building is still there, but it has undergone several changes in name and ownership, and has been gutted of its once fine fixtures.
Today, we have what is now being called "road rage," the name given to the literally thousands of brutal shootings, rammings, stonings, and other traffic mayhem occurring on the so-called "freeways" of America. 96% of these are committed by males ranging in age from 18-35, but it is just another consequence of the wrecked cities and hapless souls who must now fight endless "freeway" traffic jams, in an attempt to get to work to pay the bills. An article in USA TODAY says that in 6 major American cities, transportation now costs more than housing, thanks to people escaping from the demolished cities and having to drive, drive, drive.
Churches in America's neighborhoods were eloquent testimony to our skills of design and craftsmanship. Neighborhoods were so compact, friendly and wonderful, that grocery and other shopping, church attendance, library research, and eating out were mostly accomplished by a short walk. Apartment buildings were spacious, and so well constructed with high ceilings and thick walls, that air conditioning wasn't necessary.
Schools were built for the ages, with large auditoriums, stages, print shops, machine shops, auto shops, woodworking shops, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and chemistry labs in great profusion. Public schools built sixty to a hundred years ago contained facilities impossible to afford now. I finished high school at Central High, in Washington D.C., which had the largest stage in the city, and 65-foot high "grids," or "fly space." The auditorium had a pipe organ and projection booth. An indoor swimming pool and indoor track were complimented by several gymnasiums, an enormous outside stadium and track, plus an auto shop, machine shop, wood shop, print shop, chemistry labs, physics labs, its own steam powered electrical generating system, wide spacious halls, and large classrooms. Two trolley lines served the facility and two bus lines, with no student parking provided. It all operated like a fine watch, with no pollution, fair academic achievement, and no graffiti or vandalism. I graduated in 1952.
If you can’t remember American cities of forty years ago, either believe me, or ask someone who can. When the cities went, the architecture and wonderful facilities went with them. It would be impossible now to duplicate the extraordinary buildings that have been destroyed along with the cities, thanks to that FHA 235 program, plus other federal government subsidies, regulations, mandates, and force. The tragedy is that youth will often not believe us older people have anything to offer or remember, even as an explanation of "how we got here," or "how it used to be." My son and daughters can’t possibly imagine the clean, crime free, inviting, stable, cities of the past. They can't imagine cities without pollution, freeways, slums, crime, graffiti, abandoned buildings, and millions of cars. The youth of today takes for granted that drugs, illegitimacy, crime, murder, arson, filth, smog, and grunge are normal. In fact, they are very abnormal to me. Abnormal, because I remember how it not only used to be, but still should be.
The cities declined, never to be the same again, because of the consequences of federal government programs intended to help those supposedly in need. In reality the FHA "235" and other programs which caused the massive destruction of America’s cities, can aptly be compared to experiencing a war, only without bombing from the air. This urban demolition occurred as consequences of government bureaucracy's ideas, which no one was able or willing to stop or correct, until it was too late. Europe has beautiful cities and towns that are hundreds of years old. Millions of homes have been in the same family and been passed down to offspring for generations. So far, many governments in Europe haven’t dictated, influenced, or subsidized; so the cities, towns, and villages are generally "whole."
It is the consequence of giving "something for nothing," or "SFN," as I will call this phenomena throughout the rest of this book, that killed our once grand cities. It was giving 'no money down' mortgages to those unqualified to receive them, and supporting them with governmental largess in the form of various welfare schemes and handouts, which was a major force in the destruction of our cities. Libertarians have a slogan they call "TANSTAAFL," which means, "there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch." I will just call it "SFN," or "something for nothing." The "SFN" syndrome has consequences that are causing us to self-destruct with such intensity and rapidity that we may have passed the point of no return. "SFN" is always caused by legislation. After all, what or who else can bestow what seems to be something for nothing, other than the legislative process or a frighteningly moneyed person or group? The fact is, there is no such thing as "SFN," any more than there is a perpetual motion machine. Whenever someone receives something, it has a price or cost, although the cost may not be immediately visible. It is a physical impossibility for government to give to one without taking from another, even though the process may be remarkably well hidden as to the source of the largess. In the case of America's decline, 90% of Americans as yet still do not realize there is a cost. I know this to be true, because we still believe we are getting something for nothing...from government.
I must prove this to be false, so that those of you out there, who can still read and think, might change your minds. Spurious optimism? There is no such thing as "SFN." It just seems that way, and it has cost us dearly. If you wish to count private charities as "SFN," you might be partially correct, although private charities used to require work for their handouts. It is a tragedy that private charities and foundations have copied government, by requiring nothing in return for their gaggle of gifts.
As a simple, adequate proof of the fact that probably 90% of Americans think there is no cost to government handouts, watch or listen to any news or talk show, and the phrase "government help" will always be a part of the dialogue. Government has no money to hand out, or ability to 'help,' unless it first takes from its subjects in the form of taxes, borrows, or expands the currency supply. Increasing the currency supply is known as inflation. Government 'help' or 'aid' is merely theft from one sector, redistributing it to another, and the cost is colossal. Government 'help' is perhaps one of the least known economic fantasies and total frauds existing today. Government cannot help someone or group without hurting another person or group. ‘There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.' (TANSTAAFL)
Our American cities could self-regenerate and be safe again. It would take time, but it could happen with no 'programs' or government meddling, which is what got them where they are now. To reverse any deleterious situation, it is necessary first to discover how that circumstance came about. In the case of the cities, they were ruined, with few exceptions, by allowing unqualified people to "buy" homes, usually with no down payment. Banks and savings and loans would never have made such loans to the unqualified. No bank would be so foolish as to loan anyone 100% of a home’s purchase price, as it is an invitation to pillage, abuse, and the inevitable abandonment, simply because "SFN" buyers have nothing invested. Uncle Sam not only forced such loans to be made, but backed them through several bureaucracies, the main ones being the FHA and VA (Federal Housing Authority and Veterans Administration), although there are others such as "Fanny Mae," and "Freddie Mac." If a bank or savings and loan declined to make a loan, even with a government guarantee, as happened tens of thousands of times, they were threatened with severe penalties, forcing them to make loans, destroying the very neighborhoods they had prospered in for decades. Tens of thousands of businesses failed during the sixties and seventies, thanks to neighborhood changes that resulted from huge influxes of unqualified 'homeowners.' These falsely termed 'homeowners' achieved financing with few or no qualifications; the financing obtained by federal force as well as loan guarantees, with little or 'nothing down.' There went the neighborhoods!
In order to restore American cities, the market needs to be allowed to operate with no government interference. No subsidies, guarantees, quotas, or other meddling, is the perfect assurance that the cities would return to their former vibrancy. It is happening in microcosm now in most major cities, but would happen far faster if the phenomena were allowed to operate with no government interference. The process is known as "gentrification." As an example, there is a section of Philadelphia around Spring Garden St., between North Broad and the Schuylkill River, formerly the worst of slums, incredibly dangerous, and seemingly hopeless. At last look it was sprouting like a spring tulip. Brave investors began buying the formerly wonderful, large houses that had been wrecked. The buyers saw possibilities with the low prices, large rooms, wonderful brickwork, high ceilings, and fancy Victorian lines. They speculated, a peculiar American tradition, one of which has made us great. They took a chance, in other words. The neighborhood is handily adjacent to Philly's center city, making commutation easy and cheap, either by a short walk, bike trip, or subway. Gradually, the derelicts were bought, and gradually the restorations began. A couple of brave restaurateurs took a chance, one buying an abandoned fire house, restoring it, and turning it into a wonderful eatery. All this without a dime of government money, guarantees, or regulation. Prices began to climb as the process took on a life of its own. Some of the residents took their profits and left, while others remained, fixing up their houses to show a pride of ownership exhibited by their new neighbors. No one loses on a project such as this. The sellers make profits, and the buyers, especially the first ones, do the same. A neighborhood self regenerates with no government bureaucrats guaranteeing loans, no force, and no regulations, other than common ones dealing with building, electrical and plumbing codes. The tax base increases, crime decreases, wonderful old architecture is preserved and restored, and the beauty of the city is realized, with its conveniences, culture, and affluence. The same process happened in Philly in the 50's and 60's when the "Society Hill" area underwent gentrification.
When government force and subsidy reared their ugly heads, our cities were doomed. To make them return, it is only necessary to remove government force, subsidy, programs, and interference. It would take time, but it would happen. Not only would cities regain their former glory and convenience, but the air would clear, as if by magic, since endless driving to and from work would be reduced as the cities redeveloped. Integration would be assisted, because the new and old owners would instantly live adjacent to each other. The profit hungry would seize the opportunity and leave, while the future oriented would stay, renovate, restore, and watch their investment bloom, as crime went down, and the neighborhood went up.
A second way the cities could restore themselves would be to adopt a property tax system based solely on the purchase price, or land plus construction cost. Perhaps 1-percent per year tax, similar to "Prop. 13," a California idea of many years ago, but with broader applications. There would be no exemptions. All would pay the 1-%, or maybe far less if the public schools were eliminated, (see next chapter) and taxes would never go up, other than to be indexed for inflation. Churches were mostly built a long time ago, and for low dollar cost, so their taxes wouldn't be exorbitant. Government would be assessed too, and even though it would pay taxes to itself, none would be exempt, including American Legions, Elks clubs, etc. If all property taxes were at a percentage of purchase price, or land plus construction cost, and not an appraiser's often-unfair 'valuation,' the cities would be greatly assisted in restoration efforts. Low priced homes in bad neighborhoods would be snapped up for a song, because even after restoration, the taxes would be based on purchase prices, not value, and not including restoration costs. There should be no property taxes in the first place, but if there must be such, the above is the fairest way to levy the theft with the least pain. Property taxes mean simply that you never own, but rent from government. Try not paying this 'rent' and you are out, regardless of receipts showing you bought the property.
When "Prop.13" was passed and implemented in California, everyone predicted that schools, libraries and parks would self-destruct. The opponents said that fire and police protection would vanish, and California would go bankrupt. Nothing of the kind happened. What did happen is that senior citizens and long time residents of homes were not taxed out of their abodes, and the assessors' jobs became easier and far more honest.
What would happen if a "Prop. 13" type of law were instituted in other big cities, and government ceased its regulations, mandates, quotas, and hand outs? Fine old homes would be restored, lived in, and people would move back to the cities. Imagine the tax savings, grand architecture, low purchase prices. Think about taking public transportation to work, or even walking, with huge savings. The convenience of nearby shopping and entertainment, would reappear. The lost architecture would never be rebuilt, but America's once magnificent cities would be reborn, rebuilt, and re-inhabited by law abiding, responsible citizens.
But please do not forget that the "Prop.13" solution assumes there should be property taxes in the first place, and I do not think such should exist. In the main, it has been government subsidies to the unwashed, irresponsible, lazy, unreliable scum that has ruined our cities and forced out those who made them grand in the first place. By total removal of all subsidies and force, the market would operate, and the cities could eventually make it. Sensible property evaluations and taxes would be a driving force. I can imagine whole blocks of abandoned houses bought for peanuts, and new homes, industry or shopping replacing them, with taxes based solely on the miniscule cost of land, plus construction, and never going up, an incredible inducement. The infrastructure, streets, transportation, and other necessities are already there in the cities, saving the cost of installing new. These are always a large part of construction costs in suburbia.
There is hope for U.S. cities if federal government meddling and force ceased, and taxing was reasonable and logical.