Inner city decline

Policy makers, city planners, and poverty fighters have been trying to address the problem of the declining inner city for at least 50 years. (Though some people, such as Robert Bruegmann, would say that the declining inner city is not actually a problem at all.) Things like redevelopment districts, urban renewal, infrastructure investment, special tax treatments have all been tried, and I think most would say only marginally successfully. But here's a new idea. According to Pat Fagan, head of a group called BOND (Brotherhood for a New Destiny): "America must create a "Culture of Belonging,” he says. And the formula for that is "work, wedlock and worship." According to the social science data, if these three fundamentals are in place, government social policy is virtually unnecessary." I dislike the moralizing overtones of the delivery, but the message, which is that inner city residents have to take some responsibility for their condition, is spot-on. This is the sort of message the city planners may not like to hear, because it suggests that their remedies may not be needed after all.