That was the question Harvard professor Ed Glaeser asked last August in City Journal. His conclusion was, "Probably not, and government should probably stop bribing people to stay there."

Well, more than a few Buffalonians took umbrage at that. So a few brave souls, led by Kate Foster, Director of University of Buffalo's Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth, invited Glaeser to come to town and explain himself.

I was eager to see the sparks that might fly, so I flew over to hear it for myself.

Ed immediately defused the anger by apologizing. He wasted no time in trying to win favor among the large audience.

What Ed seems to be railing against -- with good reason -- is the unhealthy reliance some cities have on the shiny new physical bauble to be a magic bullet for what ails them. (Keep in mind that Buffalo is planning to make a major public investment in a Bass Pro Store on its waterfront.) Ed's message was, invest in people, not buildings. And when physical investments are made, he favors flexibility.

"There is little evidence that development projects fix decline," Ed told his audience.

On the other hand, Ed makes a strong case for density, which is "particularly valuable for an idea economy" since "proximity enables ideas to move quickly."

"People learn from one another," Ed said. "You get smart by hanging out with smart people. It's the way you build skills."

He concluded with four big ideas:

1. Invest in building skills not building buildings.
2. Quality of life is economic development.
3. Always ask who benefits from policy. (Too many place-based policies tend to benefit either the connected business.)
4. There is little reason to favor one region over another. But it costs more to provide services to people who start with less, which provides a strong rationale for state and federal governments to pay for social services. And different forms of development have different environmental impacts so that should also be taken into account in state and federal policy and funding.

Put people ahead of place, Ed admonished.

But the paradox is that people increasingly choose where they want to live because of place, not because of the job. So I think his formula is too simplistic. Another formulation would be, "Make smart investments in place, and honestly appraise those investments before they are made."