America's urban downtowns were neglected for decades, abandoned for newer malls in the suburbs and bigger homes on the edge of town. The construction of new highways helped speed their decline. And rising crime nearly killed them.
That's the story of much of the second half of the 20th century in cities across the country. But newly unveiled housing data dating back to 1990 show that these long-shunned city centers have been attracting Americans again. According to detailed data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, home prices over the past 25 years have appreciated more in the heart of big cities than just about anywhere else.
"After decades of hollowing out," write FHFA economists Alexander Bogin, William Larson and William Doerner, "center-cities are becoming increasingly popular."
Too bad Jacksonville tore down so much of its urban core.
Demographic data also show that suburban and exurban populations are again gaining population faster than urban counties. And so, the suburbs aren't dying even as cities come back. Other research also suggests that what is changing in downtowns isn't so much the number of people living there as who lives there. Close-in neighborhoods are becoming higher-income, more educated and more white. These are the residents with the demand and the money to bid up housing prices.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/27/americans-are-paying-more-to-live-in-the-very-places-they-once-abandoned/
Luckily, we still have a lot of the core left. All we have to do is be willing to look at the neighborhoods surrounding downtown in all directions....especially the north and west sides of town.