Developers see it as the road to more riches.
And college professors see it as a banal nightmare. It's been the subject of angry metal band ravings, depressing thriller movies and The Wonder Years. Europeans and New Yorkers like to think of their center cities as stately ladies, each sheltering her inhabitants, offering mass transit and providing entertainment from ballerinas and street vendors alike. But Americans have fled the inner city to such an extent that, were she a towering, graceful woman, the suburbs would form a hoop skirt the likes of which Scarlet O'Hara only dreamed about. The aftermath of two important case studies serves as a fine example.