Lessons From Buffalo

Ed Glaeser has an excellent piece on the past and the future of Buffalo but the best piece of advice for the economic development folks is:

The truth is, the federal government has already spent vast sums of taxpayer money over the past half-century to revitalize Buffalo, only to watch the city continue to decay. Future federal spending that tries to revive the city will likely prove equally futile. The federal government should instead pursue policies that help Buffalo’s citizens, not the city as a geographical place.