Environment: Downtown Is Looking Up

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There is, in Kansas City, a precedent of sorts for Detroit's effort. Some 20 years ago, Joyce Hall, founder and chairman of Hallmark Cards Inc., decided to invest in what he called "the revitalization of the inner core" of his city. What he referred to was the 85 acres of used-car lots, warehouses and other derelict buildings that flanked his company's headquarters. Slowly, he bought the land—the money came from Hallmark, which produces 9.5 million greeting cards a day—and in 1967 he and his son Donald hired Architect Edward Larrabee Barnes to replan the area.

Today Hall's $350 million Crown Center is almost complete, in effect a small downtown in itself, with offices, shops and a strikingly handsome 20-story hotel (architect: Chicago's Harry Weese). Financially, the shops have not yet drawn a crowd of customers, but aesthetically Crown Center is a smash hit. Its existence is one reason Kansas City was chosen as the site for next month's Republican Convention.

Even with all the money and effort going into the rebuilding of downtowns across the U.S., a hard question remains: Can American cities regain their health? The answer depends in large part on how successful the cities are in stemming —or reversing—the outward flow of middle-class residents. New York, which badly overestimated the market during the office-building boom of the '60s,* has boldly built its "new town" of Roosevelt Island to do just that.

Brave New Town. The enticements of Roosevelt Island—a 147-acre, 2 ½ -mile sliver in the East River—start with well-designed urban housing. The buildings contain grade school classrooms and shops, though Manhattan is only 31/2 minutes away by aerial tramway (TIME, May 24). There is even a pneumatic garbage system that whisks household refuse to a central disposal plant. Perhaps most important, and maybe at some risk, Roosevelt Island mixes income groups—rich, middle class and poor. Opened late last year, the project has leased one-third of its 2,100 rental units and sold 27 of its luxury apartments—for $18,500, plus $658 a month maintenance. It is too early to tell if this brave new town will prosper. But the concept is vital, and Roosevelt Island is being closely watched by city planners.

It has often been said that a nation's buildings express its aspirations and its character. If so, the downtown structures of the '70s surely indicate a new attitude toward cities. By declaring a greater concern for amenity and beauty, the buildings point the way toward a renewed sense of community, of civic pride. The proud towers raise high a message of energy and innovation as the U.S. enters its third century.