Matthew Ulterino, graduate of urban planning at Columbia University's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, former Metropolitics staff member Times Square, New York's infamous quarter of vice and squalor, has been swept clean by the likes of Mickey Mouse, Ken Griffey Jr. and Conde Nast. The change has been stunning, and its redevelopment is rightly a symbol of New York's rebound.
Tourism is way up, crime is way down, and construction on offices and apartments is happening again.
In New York, and in cities virtually everywhere, major economic redevelopment does not happen without a financial push from local or state government. But many economists and those critical of government's spending habits are wondering if tax breaks and incentives have gone too far. They charge that economic development resources are being spent on economic activity that would have happened in the absence of subsidies. Moreover, the benefits are accruing to corporations and real estate investors who, many would agree, scarcely need the taxpayer's help. Economic theory acknowledges the need for government spending to spur growth.