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This is an excellent topic for discussion. You raise many interesting questions for a very complex problem. My understanding of this is very superficial at best, but I think some elements must be close to the facts.
Historically, say 50's and 60's, inner city high rises were built as low income housing for what where then predominately black families. This contributed to the "white flight" out of the cities and into the suburbs. Economic neglect, both in terms of property and people, led to slum like conditions and criminal activity within the inner city neighborhoods. These problems have been ignored for the most part over the years, until recently.
I wish I could check my cynicism at the door, but I can't. There is a great "hoopla" now that the tenements are being torn down and residents will be moved to "better" locations for raising a family. It is also true that these downtown properties are worth a great deal to city developers. There are many reasons that neighborhoods may go "bad" but one of them must be that the criminal faction of the inner cities is being driven outward, along with the families that are being displaced.
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"You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to." Molly Ivins - 1944-2007
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