But the sell-and-hold-off-buying strategy makes sense for big-city empty-nesters.

FORBES: Self-Employment

The suburbs may be pleasant enough when parents are absorbed with work and children, but for the childless and the empty-nesters the city has many merits.

ECONOMIST: With age, cities go centrifugal��but maybe not for ever

Neighbourhoods such as Parkhead and Shettleston are more desolate, with rows of once-grand Edwardian houses crumbling in picturesque decay, and empty lots and derelict shops a stone's throw from city-centre streets that boast the highest rents in Scotland.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

But the vast empty car park outside the Art of War City and its near-deserted courtyards suggest the town is struggling.

ECONOMIST: China abroad

Housing stock is crumbling, and the center city is a study in urban decay: empty lots, boarded-up businesses, foreclosure signs.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Inventing Niagara'