Walter E. Williams: A Mayor's Most Important Job — The Patriot Post

Walter E. Williams: A Mayor's Most Important Job — The Patriot Post: 
"When World War II ended, Washington, D.C.‘s population was about 900,000; today it’s about 700,000. 
In 1950, Baltimore’s population was almost 950,000; today it’s around 614,000. 
Detroit’s 1950 population was close to 1.85 million; today it’s down to 673,000...
...A similar story of population decline can be found in most of our formerly large and prosperous cities. 
...During the 1960s and ‘70s, academic liberals, civil rights advocates and others blamed the exodus on racism — “white flight” to the suburbs. 
However, since the '70s, blacks have been fleeing some cities at higher rates than whites. 
It turns out that blacks, like whites, want better and safer schools for their kids and don’t like to be mugged or have their property vandalized. 
...At the heart of big-city exoduses is a process that I call accumulative decay. 
When schools are rotten and unsafe, neighborhoods become run-down and unsafe, and city services decline, the first people to leave are those who care the most about good schools and neighborhood amenities and have the resources to move. 
As a result, cities lose their best and ablest people first. 
Those who leave the city for greener pastures tend to be replaced by people who don’t care so much about schools and neighborhood amenities or people who do care but don’t have the means to move anywhere else. 
Because the “best” people — those who put more into the city’s coffer than they take out in services — leave, politicians must raise taxes and/or permit city services to deteriorate. 
...Big cities can be revitalized, but it’s going to take mayors with guts to do what’s necessary to reverse accumulative decay. 
They must ensure safe streets and safe schools. 
They must crack down on not only violent crimes but also petty crimes and misdemeanors, such as public urination, graffiti, vandalism, loitering and panhandling."
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