I can’t remember where the list was, but Buffalo was ranked among the “10 worst American cities,” written off as “irreparably damaged.” Whoever compiled it was looking only at the loss of population and industry. And showed a rather impressive lack of understanding of how cities can not only survive but regenerate these days, thanks to the most essential essential in life. Slums can be razed and converted to urban farms. Artisanal producers can take over abandoned factories (can you say Chelsea Market?)  Ambitious chefs can take advantage of low rents to open quality restaurants with affordable prices, supporting those local farms and producers. Not sure when old media, itself heading for obsolescence, is going to wake up and smell the coffeehouses. A country that doesn’t make anything anymore still has to eat. And the future is in food.