Disruptive Innovation Burgh

Pittsblog covers an interesting Pop City interview with the Brookings Institutes head urban guru, Mike Katz:

In a 2006 report, The State of Cities, Katz blames rigid zoning and building codes developed ages ago that now inhibit necessary redevelopment in cities, and state and federal subsidies that support expansion of housing and roads at the metropolitan fringe. "The whole country to some extent is paying a price for this not just economically but also environmentally," he says. "We have a long way to go."

Katz is describing the lack of frontier geographies in many American cities, which has pushed development to suburbs and exurbs. Creative urban renewal needs the latitude and space to thrive, something you might find more of in Youngstown than in Pittsburgh.

Perhaps Cool Space Locator can help us figure out where we can build New Pittsburgh.