The NYTimes says the fate of New Orleans has yet to be determined. Imagine the error.
The essay continues by pointing out “Los Angeles has the most talented cluster of architects practicing anywhere in the United States, and at one point or another most of them have invested significant brain power in figuring out how to remake Wilshire Boulevard.” One street, no action.
The Bronx? Decades slip by while arguing. The Rust Belt? Homeland Security is active.
A concrete proposal is to create a National Infrastructure Bank with no other purpose than to do something concrete.
A half-century ago American engineering was the envy of the rest of the world. Cities like New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans were considered models for a brilliant new future. Europe, with its suffocating traditions and historical baggage, was dismissed as a decadent, aging culture.
It is no small paradox that many people in the world now see us in similar terms.