Which way is our spiral?

The cover story in the current edition of the Yale Alumni Magazine looks at the New Haven Renaissance and Yale's role in helping it happen.

There is little doubt now that New Haven is a healthier, more prosperous, more fun, and safer city than it has been in the memory of most alumni. 'When we use the word 'spiral' in speaking of our large cities,' wrote the Hartford Courant's Tom Condon two years ago, 'it is almost always preceded by 'downward.' In New Haven, they are saying 'upward.''

One example of Yale's positive and stabilizing impact is that since 1994 more than 900 Yale employees have purchased a home in New Haven with as much as $25,000 in financial assistance from Yale. Each dot on the map of New Haven represents a home purchased through Yale's Homebuyer Program.

Wouldn't it be great to have for North Allston and North Brighton to have a similar town-gown integration, a shift from absentee landlords to homeowners, and more people walking or biking to work?