Is an increased amount of municipalities going bankrupt actually a good thing?

[Fern]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304830704577493032619987956.html

Present trends don't seem to bear that out.

Rural flight has also been a known problem for many years.

I don't think your article supports your assertions.

According to Census data released Thursday, in 27 of the nation's 51 largest metropolitan areas, city centers grew faster than suburbs between July 2010 and July 2011. By contrast, from 2000 to 2010 only five metro areas saw their cores grow faster than the surrounding suburbs.

Viewed as a whole, U.S. suburbs have grown faster than city centers in every decade since the 1920s, when rising automobile ownership inspired Americans to begin fleeing cramped city quarters for leafy suburbs, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution.

A year or so urban areas grew faster? Well, that's not much of a trend and I think most of it has to do with the economy and the housing market in particular.

I live in what could be considered a rural area. I moved here in the early 90's and we've been growing like crazy, at least until the economy and housing market tanked.

Simply put - if you cannot sell your old home, where ever it may be, you can't buy one here/move here. And if you got foreclosed on where ever you lived, you sure as heck aren't getting loan to buy a home here so you're not moving here.

Fern

 

[K1052]

I don't think your article supports your assertions.



A year or so urban areas grew faster? Well, that's not much of a trend and I think most of it has to do with the economy and the housing market in particular.

I live in what could be considered a rural area. I moved here in the early 90's and we've been growing like crazy, at least until the economy and housing market tanked.

Simply put - if you cannot sell your old home, where ever it may be, you can't buy one here/move here. And if you got foreclosed on where ever you lived, you sure as heck aren't getting loan to buy a home here so you're not moving here.

Fern

It's significant in that it hasn't happened for nearly a century.

Also the American love affair with the car is clearly entering it's sunset years as younger people are driving substantially less than the previous generations. This is only possible in denser areas with transit options.

 

[techs]

Our bigger cities are not "falling down". Detroit is an exception which is partly due to the low tax rates in Michigan which have failed to increase revenue and the decline of the auto industry.

The problem large cities have is that they are the ultimate donors to other areas. While there are donor states and recipient states in the US, where they richer states give tons of money to the failed states, the same holds true even more in large cities.

For example, New York is a a big donor state sending lots of money to states like Alabama, Louisiana, etc. Yet, of the money that does come back to New York from its Federal Taxes, New York City gets even less than the rest of New York. NY City had to sue a few years back to try and get not its "fair share" but just more than it was getting. If large cities only got back what they paid in taxes Detroit would be rolling in money.