Letters: ‘We Need to Resist the Mallification of New York’
How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town
New York’s empty storefronts, Derek Thompson argued last week, are a dark omen for the future of cities.
I so enjoyed this article, in a sad way. I experienced this on a micro-level in Montrose, a Houston, Texas, neighborhood. It was quirky, old, tree-lined, and everybody moved there to get their piece of the grooviness. Then they built curb-to-alley condo-strosities with pavement instead of lawns, street-level garages, and no porches. Now Montrose is nothing but a huge apartment complex.
Cheri’ Ben-Iesau
New Orleans, La.
Derek Thompson hits the mark. New York has too many empty storefronts, as landlords hold out for deep-pocket chains to open their checkbook, while small, more quirky establishments disappear year by year.
There’s a solution to this, and San Francisco paints the way. In many (but not all) neighborhoods, San Francisco prohibits the opening of a new
