A week ago, I was walking down 16th Street in downtown Denver. I was trying to stave off the minor panic attack I inevitably get at some point during travel outside of Philadelphia. I love going new places, don’t me wrong, but I always freak for a minute when I am somewhere really far away. There's something about ready access to cheesesteaks and people who know how to speak properly (what is this mysterious wah-tear that i am constantly being offered by servers?) that comforts me. Take it away and I feel like like a turtle that's swallowed a six-pack ring.

Anyway, there I am thousands of miles from home in a city located in a time zone that I’d bet ¾ of Philadelphians couldn’t even name. I am returning to my hotel from a pre-meeting trip to Denver’s Union Station (I like to check out trains in other cities) and I am blown away by the amount of new construction, apartments and lofts I see. I had a friend who lived in Denver once, and I’d always pictured it as one of those sprawling Western cities whose downtowns only contained hotels and office buildings. But no: all around me are thousands of units of housing.

This year, I have had a chance to travel a bit and I can confirm that urban living is popular everywhere. San Diego, LA, Portland, Seattle, Denver, Cincinnati, even Albany, NY; they all feature downtowns that are developing. Rapidly. I’d go so far as to say that American society is beginning to indicate a preference for urban living over suburban—a pretty big change for a country that practically invented suburbia.

After all, not as many middle-class people my age are getting married (or partnered for you PC straights) and bearing children in the same numbers as their parents. That means a whole lot of young people can forget the need for a good school district and a yard for the kids in favor of drinks at Tria. Not to mention the crowds of empty-nest baby boomers, who are living healthier and happier than their parents. They seem to figure, “why not live in the city now?” There is a lot more going on in Center City, after all, than in Newtown Square.

Yes, all of these suburbanites moving into the city sucks some. But, on the whole, it’s a great trend. A huge part of our current energy crisis isn’t just about the price of a barrel of oil, but it’s also about the fact that our country fundamentally realigned itself along car-reliant lines in the last century. Most Americans who live outside of cities have to own cars to do anything from work to school to shopping for food. And the fact that cities offer a contrast to that lifestyle, not to mention real opportunities for folks to get stuff done on foot or on SEPTA make them highly appealing.

So what does this all have to do with Philly?

Maybe other people have already caught onto this (especially those who travel more than I), but if there really is a cultural shift toward urban living, Philadelphia should ease up on all the incentives.

The Avenue of Arts was great and all, and maybe the ten-year tax abatement really did spur activity in Center City, but come on. If people are moving to downtown Denver of all places, it is obviously time for Philadelphia to end the ten-year tax abatement, or at least amend it.

There are two alternatives I would propose:

1. Offer a ten-year tax abatement to developers who pledge to renovate and rent properties at affordable rates. We have an affordable housing crisis in the city, and I‘d argue that what we need most is more affordable rental units.
2. Do something creative—maybe keep the property tax abatement, but charge those who get it a close-to-comparable fee for something like public transportation capital development (to build new light-rail or subway lines—think how great that would be for Fairmount and Strawberry Mansion or even NE Philly), or something to fund the School District.

In Mayor Nutter’s first year as Mayor, he managed to get a budget passed without causing too much pain. But that was really just the calm before the storm. Revenue projections are not great, there’s a recession brewing, and next year and the year after, we’re going to need more money in city coffers (and AFSCME DC 47 still doesn’t have a contract signed).

We need money not just to meet basic needs, but we also need to have some capital on hand to be able to invest in the city’s future. If we want to keep new people coming here, and if we want to have the resources on hand (like a fully-funded CCP) to raise the wages of those who already do, we need money.

And when it’s clear that people want to live here, in Center City at least, easing up on the tax-abatement seems like an easy way to start.

(If the solutions I offer chafe some, no sweat, but remember, in a city where 2/3 of our citizens live in functional poverty, we gotta do something to fund basic city services and figure out a long-term plan to lift people into higher-wage jobs. So, if you don't like my solutions, offer some that address these core issues.)