Like I said, the process has to be gradual. People and business have to move together in order to build up a solid base or it won't work. Those cities that you say are crumbling, are crumbling because there isn't enough money to fix them, because there aren't enough people and businesses to raise enough tax revenue to do so. Those places will naturally turn around as tax revenue increases, but if your default response to a city starting to fall apart is to flee it then all you're doing is guaranteeing it. It might not be the same location, but you're highlighting exactly how this process can and does work in the current day.

It may be something that has to be incentivized, but it's an approach that will have far more long-term success than continuing to try to jam an infinite number of people into a finite space simply because that's where people most want to be.

Come out to Suffolk county while it's still affordable.

Best decision I ever made was going from 516 to 631

I've a friend who lives in Albany and everything seems fine when I visit him. Also tons of parking compared to new York City