The simple math that can save cities

It's about density and using downtown spaces in a Jane Jacobs kind of way.  You want this:

and not this:

That's the same building; consider which it would be more exciting to move into or next to.  The author talks about Joe Minicozzi, director at real-estate developer Public Interest Projects, "who has now made something of a traveling road show with these photos":

We tend to think that broke cities have two options: raise taxes, or cut services. Minicozzi, though, is trying to point to the basic but long-buried math of our tax system that cities should be exploiting instead: Per-acre, our downtowns have the potential to generate so much more public wealth than low-density subdivisions or massive malls by the highway. And for all that revenue they bring in, downtowns cost considerably less to maintain in public services and infrastructure.

Related old: Jane Jacobs, Death and Life of Great American Cities
Related new:  Edward Glaeser, Triumph of the City