The Economist writes about Mayor Bloomberg's new 25-year vision for New York City. With a vision for better transportation and quality life where "every New Yorker will live within ten minutes' walk of a public park," Bloomberg's efforts are clearly directed at real citizens as well as the the larger image of the citizen. One very promising sign is the Sustainability Advisory Board that he is assembling to get serious and sincere input from scientists, environemtnalists and other sorts of experts. The city's sustainability is a serious concern on many fronts, but a few key changes they'll grapple with include anticipated growth by another 1 million people, seniors outnumbering tots, and the potential collapse of an already overwhelmed degrading infrastructre.
Ultimatley, this vision is going to need to be very strong to succeed, since it will have to be implemented by other mayors. But a greener vision for the challenges facing this great city should be something that many New Yorkers can get excited about. And probably something we'll talk about in class plenty.
It also raises an interesting question about personal perspective. Think about New York compared with other cities? Is it a city on the rise? Or is it a city in decline? Is it like some European cities which are just reliving their past greatness or is it still about what it is becoming? How you view the city says a lot about how you might treat decisions about its future.
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