Buy a hard copy of the report that calls for leaders to double down regionally-focused approaches to economic development for Upstate New York's "legacy cities." Free PDF download available at LegacyCities.AmericanAssembly.org.The report articulates strategies for: enhancing local government efficiency and land use coordination; targeting urban education by making schools neighborhood magnets; building a world class innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem; driving competitiveness by increasing export capacity; and empowering legacy cities to lead in clean energy production and energy conservation."This report challenges us to accelerate the transformation of our economy by supporting entrepreneurship, aligning workforce with growing industries, expanding connections to overseas markets, and reversing antiquated laws and practices that have driven unsustainable land use and an inefficient system of governance," said Robert M. Simpson, president of CenterState CEO and co-chair of the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council (CNY REDC). "The good news is that we are well underway with bold initiatives, reaffirmed in this report, that are having an impact on our legacy cities and can serve as a model for other regions and states across the country.""This report powerfully affirms the centrality of anchor institutions in catalyzing cross-sector collaboration to revitalize legacy cities," said Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor, who co-chairs the CNY REDC."We're all in this together. Our legacy cities are communitiesof memory, history, authenticity, and deep soul. We choose to behere. They are irreplaceable, and they are a key part of this nation." --Hunter Morrison

Legacy cities – also known as shrinking, rust belt, and post-industrial cities – are places facing persistent population decline, disinvestment, and structural economic challenges. Scholars and practitioners argue that historic buildings are among the key assets for neighborhood stabilization and revitalization, yet demolition of existing buildings is a dominant public policy approach in legacy cities. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, this three-essay dissertation (1) develops a typology of legacy city neighborhoods across five cities (Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, & St. Louis) and five census decades (1970-2010), (2) identifies patterns of federal historic rehabilitation tax credit (RTC) activity and evaluates the effects of RTC investments on racial, socioeconomic, and housing characteristics across legacy city neighborhood types from 2000 to 2010, and (3) examines how and why RTCs are deployed as a preservation tool in different neighborhood contexts. Hierarchical cluster analysis and discriminant analysis are employed in the first essay, identifying eight distinct neighborhood types (Established & Stable Homeowners; Highly Bifurcated; Competitive, Educated, & Struggling; Educated Newcomers; White Immigrants; Declining & Black; Black, Stressed, & Disadvantaged; Collapsed Urban Core) and supporting the coherency of legacy cities as a meaningful analytic grouping. In the second essay, descriptive statistics show the distribution of RTC activity across all legacy city neighborhood types, and a difference-in-differences regression model counters arguments in the existing literature that RTCs contribute to revitalization or gentrification in legacy cities. Using key person interviews and a comparative case study approach of two St. Louis neighborhoods, the final essay uncovers key lessons as to how and why the RTC functions as a preservation and reinvestment tool across different types of neighborhoods in a declining citywide context, including the size/scale of historic urban fabric, importance of stable neighborhoods as testing grounds for RTC investments, role of situational conditions and cultural contexts, and the economic and cultural values rooted in RTC decision-making.

Formerly Urban is a collection of essays grounded in the belief that design, in all its manifestations, must play a central role in the revitalization of shrinking cities in America. The essays-by notable architects, landscape architects, and urban planners-argue that designers need to seize the opportunity to be the link between universities, local government, and private foundations. Only by participating from an urban project's inception can designers help shape design policy and the design of public works. Formerly Urban is for practitioners, urban thinkers, and anyone participating in the renewal and revitalization of our formerly urban centers.