The Problem of the Cities - Online Library of Law & Liberty
"Ever since people began migrating in large numbers from America’s rural areas to its urban areas in the 19th century, cities have presented unique challenges: sanitation, housing, transportation, education, public safety, and fire protection, to name just a few.
...The rapid growth of urban areas, increased population density, and a massive influx of immigrants...hastened the rise of municipal political machines (such as Tammany Hall in New York City),
official corruption, labor unrest, and the demographic diversity that continues to this day.
Even though Americans’ standard of living generally improved during industrialization...
Members of ethnic minorities disproportionately reside in U.S. cities, and their local governments are disproportionately (in fact more or less exclusively)
in the hands of the Democratic Party.
Cities expend substantial taxpayer resources to try to address poverty, crime, air pollution, congestion, substandard housing, homelessness, and the education of non-English speaking students, all of which are not as prevalent in suburban and rural areas.
Cities tend to have large numbers of unionized public employees, high (and rising) taxes and debt (including unfunded pension liabilities), and intrusive regulations.
For a variety of reasons, urban residents favor liberal policies—and elect liberals to office—to a greater degree than suburban and rural voters.
Some major American cities, such as Detroit, have become dysfunctional fiefdoms, forced into bankruptcy.
Proponents of classical liberalism generally favor limited government and free market solutions, but these views do not prevail in most American cities..."
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