Can a City Be Too White?

I just read The White City by Aaron M. Renn over at New Geography. I think he did a great job at tackling an important issue — the lack of racial diversity in progressive cities in the US. I have my own ideas on this topic, and while I didn’t agree with every assertion made in the article, I was nodding along until the very last paragraph:

These [progressive] cities have never been black, and may never be predominately Latino. Perhaps they cannot be blamed for this but they certainly should not be self-congratulatory about it or feel superior about the urban policies a lack of diversity has enabled.

Huh?

Why can’t progressive cities be happy about their accomplishments? They’ve enacted policies and programs that have benefitted their citizens. Portland officials aren’t going to other cities telling them they need streetcars; other cities officials are going to Portland. Streetcars aren’t a perfect fit everywhere, but Portland shouldn’t be embarrassed by the fact that they have one.

What’s worse, the last sentence really seems to be implying that progressive cities wouldn’t be as progressive with additional diversity. How does he know? It’s dubious to compare Minneapolis to places like Miami or Houston. Each city has their own history and culture, and diversity is only one part of that. If Denver was 25% African-American overnight, would transit ridership drop? Would support for new projects fall off? Is racial diversity the predominant variable in determining what “progressive” means?

I believe that the culture of a city is about more than race. Race certainly plays a part, and the progressive cities that the article mentions could certainly do with more. Cities are great because they can bring people of all colors and creeds together. But citizens of progressive cities shouldn’t be ashamed that they can pass progressive policies.