Cities on a hill

Thursday, March 3, 2011 - 12:00 in Earth & Climate

Green Acres isn’t the place for everyone, especially Edward Glaeser. Glaeser, who was born and raised in New York City, is an advocate of the metropolis, and he upends the myths that cities are unhealthy, poor, crime ridden, and environmentally unfriendly in his new book “Triumph of the City.” The Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics began thinking about cities when he was just a child. “I found it impossible not to be fascinated by the urban world around me,” he recalled. “In those days — the bleak 1970s — New York’s future seemed far from assured. It has been a great joy to watch that city, and other great cities like Boston, come back.” Glaeser said humans are a social species, and cities are a natural fit for them despite being highly unnatural. “Cities are thriving despite new technologies that make it effortless to telecommute from any far-flung spot, because those technologies and...

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