Originally Posted by BENZ-LGB

You're right. If you visit an old town you will see that the important buildings, like the banks, courthouses, theaters, civic halls, hospitals, are all arranged close to the center of town; parks too.

The town's movers and shakers (and anyone with sufficient means) lived close to the center of town. Lawyers, doctors, bankers, etc., all had houses near the center of town. They could easily walk to work.

As you moved out from the center, neighborhoods grew poorer and poorer until you got to the shanty towns in the outskirts of the city.

Soon after the end of WWII, with military production being diverted to making more cars for the public's consumption, the old design model was turned on its head and downtowns fell apart with the poor moving in to the central area of the city. The middle class, and anyone who could qualify for a home loan under the GI Bill, moved to the suburbs.

If you look at the history of Los Angeles, that is exactly what happened soon after the end of WWII.

Things are changing, however. We have been looking for a place for our oldest daughter to live. She is got her head set on a downtown loft. We went looking for a place to buy (or more realistic at this point, rent). Buildings that had been previously been occupied by the homeless, by rats and by sweatshops are now being turned into "yuppie lofts."

Moving back to the center of towns is the in thing to do.