Thread by @Noahpinion

NYC is the exemplar of America's urban revival. It's also an exemplar of the problems now facing America's superstar cities. And its responses to those problems may be a harbinger of what's to come in other cities.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

NYC is the poster child for American urbanism. It's super-safe, wildly prosperous, and legendarily fun.

But, like other American "superstar" cities, it's becoming a playground for high-earning knowledge industry workers, while middle-income people in middle-skilled jobs get squeezed.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

Could NYC build its way out of its affordability problems?

Probably not, TBH. First of all, it's already super-dense compared to other American cities.

Now, New York COULD try to become EVEN MOAR dense, like Tokyo.

But there's just one problem - that requires a lot of transit and other infrastructure. And NYC's construction costs are INSAAAAANE.

nymag.com/intelligencer/…

So NYC is going to going to try a different tactic. It's going to do draconian rent control (note this is a state-level law, but it's really about the city).

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

And it's going to give tech companies the boot, in the hope that this will slow the trends that are leading to greater urban inequality.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

So between A) rising rents, and B) measures aimed at controlling rising rents, is NYC's revival over?

Note that finance - the city's traditional ace in the hole - is also falling as a share of NYC jobs.

And the news and advertising businesses aren't looking amazing either.

pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018…

theatlantic.com/business/archi…

Now, I HIGHLY doubt that NYC will suffer any kind of big decline or collapse.

But it might stagnate going forward. Its urban revival may now have hit its limits.

(end)

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

Dang, I just saw this article (ht @JamesGreiff). Would have been great to include in today's post about NYC.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Dang.