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Demographic analyst Joel Kotkin sees an even more serious structural problem: "the demise of upward mobility for the vast majority of Californians, and the rise of an increasingly class-ridden, bifurcated society."
Joel's new book, THE NEXT HUNDRED MILLION: America in 2050 is now available at booksellers everywhere.
Joel recently appeared on KPCC's Take Two show to talk about the impact of the concentration of political power and influence in the tech industry and the impact of these companies on the economy and middle class workers.
Visit the KPCC website to listen to the 7 minute segment.
Joel was recently featured in this short video piece about central planning in Los Angeles and its impact on local neighborhoods. Watch the video below.
Have a problem with Houston's notorious suburban sprawl? Better get used to it — this is type of urban development is the future.
So says demographer Joel Kotkin in a recent piece on The Daily Beast, in which he explains that "low-density, car-dominated, heavily suburbanized areas with small central cores likely represent the next wave of great American cities" — pointing to Houston as a prime example.
A piece this week by Joel Kotkin, long a critic of the "hip city" phenomenon and a defender of suburbs and blue collar jobs, on the "Daily Beast" web site assembles some of the evidence, anecdotal and factual.
"Investments in 'cool' districts may well appeal to some young professionals, particularly before they get married and have children," he writes. "But overall ... it has done little overall for the urban middle class, much less the working class or the poor."
A respected urbanologist, Joel Kotkin, has accused the idea's author, Richard Florida, of selling snake oil. Florida says a city's future depends on building something like an "arts district" where a young and rootless post-graduate crowd can hang out and be innovative. Somehow new businesses will flow because smart people have been attracted to town.
Watch the full sized video at Reason.com.
Watch Joel in this feature on the role of central planning in Los Angeles. View large version.
"Greenurbia is the suburbs of the future. The suburbs of the 1950s were bedroom communities for people who commuted into the city. Today, there’s much more employment in the suburbs, and the big change is the number of people working full-time or part-time at home. Having people commute from one computer screen to another doesn’t make sense."
Kotkin has a striking ability to envision how global forces will shape daily family life, and his conclusions can be thought-provoking as well as counterintuitive. It's amazing there isn't more public discussion about the enormous changes ahead, and reassuring to have this talented thinker on the case. — Jennifer Ludden, NPR national desk correspondent
