Obama and cities

The Antiplanner put up a post speculating that an Obama administration will be more pro-city than previous presidents (and presumably the current one), or more to the point, anti-suburb. His point is that Obama has mostly lived in large cities, and comes to the White House from that perspective. Of course, his being a community organizer was a punchline to the GOP in this election cycle. Anyway, The Antiplanner speculates that because there will be a director of urban policy in the White House, that this scenario will happen.

I happen to disagree. I think a wholesale attack on suburbia would be absolutely ridiculous. I will have to verify this, but I am fairly certain about half of the nation lives in suburban areas of larger cities. To completely alienate the denizens of the burbs is just politically stupid. I do think that Obama will have more of a pro-city policy, but it will not be a zero-sum game for that very reason. What will be interesting to see is if Obama's environmental policy has an effect on suburban life (lowering emissions, increased funding for mass transit and/or less federal funding for roads).

This is something I will keep an eye on as the Obama administration takes root, as someone who lives in a major city and has a big interest in urban affairs.