Re: Amid Greenery French Rise Above Sprawl

Neal Peirce should have ventured beyond the bus tour in Paris. He likes the high density and apartment buildings with businesses on the street. But beyond the range of the tourist cameras are 1,000 square miles of suburbs, where 80 percent of the people both work and live, many in detached housing like in US suburbs. Most travel is by car, to distant hypermarkets and to suburban jobs without convenient transit. Meanwhile, like in US central cities, there are comparatively few children in the core city and population has declined markedly --- Paris has lost more people than live in Atlanta and Pittsburgh combined. Yes, the core of Paris is charming, like the cores of New York City and Chicago. But the 395 other cities in the Paris urban area are as different from the city of Paris as the New York suburbs of White Plains, Darien and Morristown are from Manhattan.

Sincerely,
Wendell Cox
Principal, Wendell Cox Consultancy
Visiting Professor, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris