Goodbye to Suburbia?

The NY Times today (12/28/08) had an interesting spot about a newlywed couple who found an apartment in Astoria because they prefer not to live in the suburbs. The writer, Joyce Cohen, obviously thinks this is a significant change. Imagine, young people actually choosing the city!

We'll see. I think it's more significant that the family they bought the apartment from was moving because they were expecting their second child. Anyone want to bet where they're going? Do you think the couple who sold the apartment - at less than the price they wanted - is going to be able to afford a larger apartment in the city? I think not.

I wish the newlyweds, the Dubovskys, a happy life here. I'd also love to see their happy, healthy children - who haven't been born yet - enjoying an education at their neighborhood public school. Now that would be real news. After all, New York City has been telling young couples like the Dubovskys to go to hell, um, I mean the suburbs, for the past three decades.

There was once a time when the city administration felt an obligation to keep struggling, working middle class families from moving out of the city. There was a time when there was a commitment to maintain whole neighborhoods where those families could afford to live and to send their children to safe, clean schools where they were actually motivated to learn.

Of course, the Dubovskys sound like they could afford private schools. In these times. however, that level of prosperity is moving further away from the middle class, not closer. Will local government be willing to create initiatives that keep struggling, upwardly mobile families here? It will have to mean fundamental changes in housing and education policy. Policy that boldly recognizes how much the city needs those people to stay in New York.

I am sure those families, maybe even the Dubovskys, will be grateful, and will do their best to reclaim and to preserve the quality of life that this city offers.