By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Ray Suarez is very clear. He's a big supporter of cities and city life. And he brought that message to the Buffalo area the other day.
Ironically, the venue for Suarez's talk was in the heart of suburbia -- the Unitarian Universalist Church in Amherst, a stone's throw from the intersection of Main Street and Transit Road.
Suarez is an expert on the decline of American cities in the Northeast and Midwest. In 1999, he authored "The Old Neighborhood -- What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration from 1966 to 1999." He visited several cities in researching his book.
Suarez walked the streets, talking with neighborhood activists, He attended block club meetings. And he concluded that much has been lost in the move to the suburbs, especially a sense of closeness.
Click the "listen" icon above to hear more of Suarez's comments.