The rise of megacities as centers of strong job creation is one of the defining characteristics of the 21st-century global economy.
Large cities offering a huge array of interesting jobs, cultural attractions and nightlife are a magnet for young unattached workers.
Although architects and city planners are continually offering imaginative new blueprints for large cities, the severe strains on physical infrastructure are increasingly difficult to manage.
Rochester, New York, where I grew up, is mentioned prominently as one of many examples in MIT economists Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson's interesting new book, "Jump-Starting America".
In the decades after World War II, Rochester was one of the wealthiest cities in the United States.
Today, at under 1.1 million people, the population of the greater Rochester metropolitan area has grown only marginally since 1990, and the city itself has shrunk to 200,000, from a peak of 300,000 .
Although it is home to great universities, a world-class hospital and a nationally recognized philharmonic orchestra, Rochester struggles to compete with large East Coast cities for dynamic job-producing industries, and increasingly lacks the resources to cope with growing urban problems.
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