the death of american cities

American cities started to die at the end of the 19th century. Boston is noteworthy because its death (or for those who prefer gentler language: stasis) was largely complete by 1874 when it failed to annex Brookline. The death that we refer to here is not the death of the metropolitan region--for those have continued to grow robustly with population in all parts of the country. The mortality is associated with the  concept  of the city as an imperial system that could manage ALL aspects of its economic and political sphere of influence. Although regional planning can be prone to romanticism, corruption, and stupidity the alternative state that exists in many metropolitan areas is a dismal anarchy. The city of Boston has no authority over much of its critical infrastructure. Transportation systems in particular are administered at the state level, which results in a bureaucracy with less focus than a group of drunken monkeys at an orgy.