[biguc]

Technically, failing to improve things isn't a negative change. It's a negative stay-the-same, or something. Anyway, I'm not as pessimistic as you on your first two points. We have three residential highrises under construction right now downtown. We lost downtown housing units through the late 90s and early 00s. The downtown population hasn't been growing gangbusters, but it is growing, and I feel like we're at a tipping point.

And while few inner-city neighborhoods have outright gentrified I'd argue they are better than they were. Sargent may have floundered since 2005 or so but it's picked up again and is starting to look clean. Spence and Alexander, depending on the block, seem safer these days and many previously boarded up buildings are occupied again. And then there's Central Park, which I consider a great success. It's no mere coincidence that the improvements in these areas have directly correlated to the huge growth in immigration in the past decade. Given another ten years, I'd be surprised if Spence, at least, doesn't become a pretty nice neighborhood. If I were the house-buying type I'd have a hard time justifying buying anywhere else.