You all should read Fred Wilson’s post about Revitalizing Urban Cores.

Real estate agents and brokers obviously have a vested interest in increased economic activity in your local area; more economic activity = increased likelihood residents will buy and sell more homes.

This topic comes back to “community” in my mind. Cities would be smart to pick a specific lifestyle niche, and do whatever it takes to build a vibrant community around that — then let that community slowly bring their friends to the party. Of course, real estate agents should be part of that initial community building process.

If you are still here rather than having clicked the link in the 1st sentence — go read the post.