JOEL KOTKIN: Today’s Cities As Playgrounds For The Elites. “Cities today are about as politically diverse as the former Soviet Union; they are increasingly dominated by ‘the civic Left,’ for which pragmatism and moderation represent weakness and compromise. . . . If the flight of moderate, middle-income homeowners continues, along with the growth in population of poor residents and childless hipsters, urban centers will be destined to serve as sandboxes for the progressive political class. Most urban leaders and media boosters have been slow to recognize such trends, which call for a thorough change in policy. Urbanist Derek Thompson suggests that cities like New York are wonderful for new immigrants, hipsters, and the ultrarich but ‘not a great place for middle class families.’ Yet young families, not single hipsters, will now be increasingly critical to urban success.”

As the trajectory of many big cities has shown, their leaders would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. So I don’t expect these policies to change from within. And I think creating “conditions peculiarly ideal for left-wing agitation,” is seen as a feature, not a bug.