It seems everyone who’s interested in cities has an opinion about Richard Florida.

I’ve always had it in for him, since he wrote, “Who’s Your City?,” a book which instructed readers which city they should live in based on personal characteristics, as if that was a rational way to choose a place to live.

When I was working at a newspaper in Toledo a coworker of mine began researching “Who’s Your City” for an article because Toledo was listed as the 12th (13th, 14th?) best mid-sized city to be a committed gay couple. The story had to be killed midway through, however, because the margin of error on the statistic was approximately 50 percent.

Well, Florida is gearing to go to the presses again in April with, “The Great Reset,” in which he argues that the recession has fundamentally reshaped the economic landscape. This tome may be more controversial because of its premise that the new economy will divide the country into geographic winners and losers.

It also happens that many of these “losers” paid Florida a hefty fee to explain how their cities could be made Meccas for the hip, highly-educated population that is so essential to prosperity, according to Florida’s teachings.

In this video, Detroit residents rally to save their neighbor from foreclosure.
“The crime wave that is going on in this neighborhood is a crime wave by the banks that are evicting people unfairly instead of modifying their mortgages and doing everything they can to make sure they stay in their homes,” one neighbor says.
I wanted to note that the particular bank involved is Wells Fargo, one of the leading villains of the foreclosure crisis. In Cleveland this $25-million bailout recipient refuses to appear in court for code violations on its …

The Infrastructurist has an interesting post on seven major, urban, old-school freeways that should be torn down to improve aesthetics, neighborhoods, or even traffic.
Topping the list: Cleveland and the West Shoreway. Rust Wire (and many other observers) have complained that Cleveland does a very poor job of utilizing one of its strongest assets - its Lake Erie waterfront. One big reason: there’s a highway there preventing people from having easy waterfront access.
As the Infrastructurist points out, removing a big highway has been done before, notably in Milwaukee.
Other cities of interest …

I hesitate to even post this story, it is so violent, depressing, and hopeless.
At a recent cookout in East Baltimore, a dozen people were shot - which in itself is bad enough - but is part of a larger wave of violence that swept the city recently.
“The shootings on Conkling were not related to the shooting on Ashland, which might have sparked the shootings at Baltimore and Bond, which might have led to the shootings on Comet, which might have been retaliation for a shooting six months ago which was …

Christopher Steiner’s new book $20 Per Gallon is an interesting read. The book’s thesis is that oil and gasoline prices will appreciate over time. Not just to $4 per gallon like we saw last summer, but significantly higher as supply dwindles and demand continues to pick up steam. It’s not all bad news, though. One potential revival that Steiner points to is the resurgence of Rust Belt cities; some of the same cities that have been badly struggling over the past few years.

Admittedly, it’s a plausible theory. Rust Belt cities …

An episode of the Travel Channel show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” set to air Monday will showcase the culinary delicacies of Baltimore, Detroit and Buffalo.
I’ve never seen the show, but this preview, from The Buffalo News, describes Bourdain’s style as “acerbic” and “salty” as well as “not really Chamber of Commerce material.” Despite that, this writer says, the host manages to keep the show balanced by praising the cities’ cuisine as well as some of their assets, such as Buffalo’s famous architecture.
The show will be on Monday at 10 p.m.
Thanks …

I just got back from a great weekend in Charm City - also known as Baltimore, Maryland. As someone who is obsessed with The Wire, I had been wanting to check out the city for myself for quite some time - and I wasn’t disappointed (though I didn’t get to see Jimmy McNulty).
We started the weekend in our friend’s neighborhood, Mt. Vernon. The blocks around where our friend lives seem pretty nice, but only a few streets away, on the other side of a highway was a seriously underprivileged neighborhood …

According to this piece in the Baltimore Sun, police and Baltimore leaders are worried after some serious attacks in the Inner Harbor area. The story describes some violent and troubling crimes.
Sadly, I’ve never been to Baltimore, so my knowledge of the city is limited to what I have learned from Homicide and The Wire. But luckily I will soon get to experience B-more in person; I have a trip planned there for next weekend.
Are people there concerned about these crimes? Are they being blown out of proportion because some of …