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City News from Frisco

How many times have you heard that artists, writers and other creative types have been priced out of major cities? Daniel Brook, a freelance writer, ...

How many times have you heard that artists, writers and other creative types have been priced out of major cities? Daniel Brook, a freelance writer, had a contemporary version of this old story in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle, lamenting the loss of literary salons and other opportunities for good chat and networking in places like New York and San Francisco.

The reason I found this interesting is that Brook was able to go on and on about the plight of the creative class without ever once mentioning our old friend Richard Florida, who has done so much to promote the idea (last item) that cities, in order to be economically competitive, need to attract creative types. Too bad they can't afford to live in so many cities.

Across the page from Brook's piece, incidentally, is an article by Moshe Adler, a Columbia University planner, arguing that eminent domain has been misused in attempts to create affordable housing. Once the property is condemned and granted to new owners, he argues, it almost inevitably is used for more profitable means than subsidized housing, if only in the long run.

Adler calls restrictions pending in Congress "the most sensible eminent domain proposal" in 50 years. I know many of our readers will think otherwise.

Alan Greenblatt is the editor of Governing. He can be found on Twitter at @AlanGreenblatt.
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