Rehabilitating American cities

I had the great opportunity to live in Asia for the last six years, and my opinions about America will never be the same, again.

I love being an American, so this isn't a political change. However, I don't love American cities, and I do love Asian cities. American cities could learn to become better places.

Density is not a bad thing. Traffic jams, crime, and noise are bad, but the benefits of living and working closely are great.

I can't help but notice that shopping centers are under-utilized. Too much parking, too much vacancy, too little going on to attract me to go. In Coachella Valley, there are many vacant ghost towns of old retail.

Cities might take the lead and redevelop the sites into mixed use with public transportation access. 

Pudong area of Shanghai, China. This project, at the time in 2007, was the most expensive housing in China.