Joe Lhota Quotes

Rudy Giuliani did some phenomenal things in the city if you think of the transformation of the city and the quality of life.

I used to walk in the Bowery in the early 1980s, and it was not safe. It went from this to Disneyland under Giuliani and Bloomberg. This is now one of the best-run big cities in the world.

New York has changed amazingly; it's gentrified everywhere, and it's a much gentler place.

I was a little lacking in vision as mayor - I failed to understand the significance that housing and the revitalization of housing means for a city.

The key to truly rebuilding our central city on a vital and sustainable foundation is people.

New York is a much more bourgeois city, more of a tourist attraction than a muscular metropolis. It's lost moxie and a rough energy, while gaining grace and friendliness. I love both versions of the city, but I wish the prosperous Manhattan would become a little easier for young people to afford.

I come from Carol City. The city renamed it Miami Gardens.

My take on gentrification and change is it's usually always a better thing, because when you see all these businesses open and flourishing, that means there are more jobs.

We're tying to get Baltimore on the right track.

I would encourage more development in the boroughs outside of Manhattan as well. I think it's great that this natural emergence has occurred in the lower part of Midtown, but there's tremendous potential in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island as well.

I changed the city of New York. I gave people back their morale.

As an old-time New Yorker, it's not that I miss the '70s and '80s or whatever. I miss the fact that there was a certain kind of energy that exists when people can live for nothing.

I think it's evident that expensive neighborhoods in Seattle are surrounded by natural beauty. That elevates city life. So if we can make cities more attractive in the long run, we can be smarter about issues like development, zoning and economics.

A ghetto can be improved in only one way; out of existence.

We all got driven out of Manhattan. It was a very conducive place for artists when I was growing up, and now it's definitely not. The city has been completely taken over by the rich.

This city of East St. Louis needs a tomorrow.

I am generally enthusiastic about cities. Here in the West there is a panic. Every time we have a debate about cities, we talk about the problems of cities.

The population of Seoul is decreasing but a large population is not a key element of an advanced city.

Compton looks a lot of different. Residents are now able to go out and grab a bite, go to dinner, go to Target, Best Buy or a gym or Marshall's. We're now able to experience more amenities. I want to see that grow.

Urban renewal always happens as a symphony of events, and part of the symphony is innovative, optimistic developers with the ability and willingness to transform historic properties.

Liberals want to live downtown. All over America - in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Georgetown - there are crowds of liberals living in the gritty, ugly, dirty neighborhoods sensible people are trying to flee.

I want Baltimore to be the coolest city in the world.

In about 2002, I moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn, to Red Hook.

There is no manual on how to run a global city like London. But I'm hugely proud of what we've been able to achieve in just the first year.

Infrastructure deficit is an issue in all urban areas.