Leaders from Nassau, New York claim to be trying to make the suburbs less of an albatross by revitalizing the downtown district. As it is, suburbs are the result of poor urban planning in the era of cheap fuel, and are now suffering most from high gas prices, low housing values and the recession. Suburbs are losing entire generations of young people that depart as soon as high school is through. Suburban leaders are timidly trying to enrich suburbs by throwing about slogans like the “Cool Downtowns” campaign. Will it result in any action?

The article about Nassau rang true for me and reminded me of my own experience in Santa Cruz, California. I am one of the young people that ‘escaped’ Santa Cruz -- a place where I actually wanted to stay.  I had to leave because it offered no opportunities for me to build a  career, no one to date under the age of 40, nowhere fun to hang out and nowhere affordable to live.

The article points out that no money has been allocated and no policies enacted despite Nassau's “Cool Downtown” campaign, indicating that the leaders aren’t serious about the initiative. They seem unwilling to stake their reelection on a ‘change our community’ theme. The article illustrates a tension between leaders who recognize that their suburbs are flailing and the voting landowners who like things as they are and don’t want anything to change.