This focus on the benefits of city living seems to obscure with a rosy tint the issues of crime and poverty, not to mention access and tolerance and equity, with which Herbert wants us to reengage. Indeed, some organizations that are currently focused on cities are overly interested in creating efficiency in city service delivery (as Jill Lepore reminds us in The New Yorker, the pursuit of efficiency in management really hasn't been all that great for the ordinary worker) or in creating products that only benefit the iPhone-owning elite.

The truth, however, is that urban advocates' talk of environmental sustainability and the cultural and economic production of cities is most times an attempt to create a broader coalition around urban issues than is possible when speaking only in terms of urban poverty and urban crime. Support for public transit - perhaps the most blogged about "urban cause" - is not just about reducing reliance on car travel, but about improving affordability - and options - for households whose budgets are consumed by costly car trips. "Sustainable communities" that link transportation choices to affordable housing are one of the best examples of how policy can be used to achieve both the goals of rebuilding dilapidated communities and of building efficient cities.

The tension between the potential of cities and the problems that persist in them is not easily resolved, perhaps least so for the policymakers who must design policies adapted to both. Indeed, the trick is to exploit this tension: as in the climate debate, as in the health care debate, the best argument for addressing a problem is a description of how it will benefit the person you are trying to persuade.

Perhaps, then, Herbert's argument is too pessimistic. Still, I hope T.A. Franks's conclusion about Herbert is untrue:

So let's recap: Bob Herbert is a sensible person who usually assesses things more accurately than his colleagues, regularly hits the streets to report on the world outside, shines a light on people and issues that deserve far more attention than they usually get, and tells you things you really ought to know but don't. But here's the catch: you don't read Bob Herbert. Or, if you say you do, I don't believe you.