Clearly, many cities in the country New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver have undergone a remarkable transformation in the 1990s. Welfare rolls in particular have plummeted.
Job growth is strong, even in some cases stronger than in the suburbs.
Retail and commercial activity is strong, even in some inner-city markets. Housing activity is robust. These are all empirical facts. They can be quantified, documented, analyzed and assessed. What is less empirically based, but fully as true, is that the general feelings about cities and urban life are changing in this country among businesses, among consumers, among a diverse set of families and households.