Community Development

What will determine if a city will rebound quickly after the economic downturn? According to Forbes:

The best cities in which to invest are those that are considered gateways to international investment, have vital downtowns where people can forgo cars, and don’t have a glut of condos or office space.

(emphasis added)

Do we know any cities like that? New York? San Francisco? D.C.? Those are all on the list, but Seattle came in at #1.

What would make us even stronger, if this is the criteria? More good transit, of course. But I’d argue we should take walkability to the next level: close down a street or two downtown, allow food vendors onto our streets, and start connecting our neighborhoods together with traffic-free connections.

(hat tip to the ever-gloomy Seattle Bubble blog that even tries to find bad news in this story)