But in the attempt to make New York a 21st century city, we tend to compare it with other up-and-coming international cities, such as Bangalore and Guangzhou. We need a Mid-Atlantic Silicon Valley.

Since New York does have excellent health care, it attracts hundreds of millions of dollars  annually. That enough is a lure for big universities like Cornell and Stanford to apply for a tract of land that would become home to an applied sciences and engineering campus as well as about $100 million to spur R&D. It could happen in the Brooklyn Navy Yards, on Roosevelt Island or even in the South Bronx.

Take for example, the Sunshine Business incubator, a workspace of the future where independent professionals of all kinds pay a monthly rental fee to be able to draw upon the skills of people in and outside their field (the web developer helps the ad man who asks the lawyer questions, etc.). This kind of co-op has already become the model for many freelancers and small businesses and is leading to a more interdisciplinary approach of working together.

With that in mind, can you imagine how a 21st century New York City works?

Texian troops fought off Santa Anna’s in the late 1830′s. Sam Houston, leader of the Texians, and Davy Crockett and his troop of Tennesseans were called in and determined to hold the old mission building of the Alamo. Santa Anna resolved to take the Alamo by storm. After nearly two weeks of fighting in late February and early March 1836, the final Battle of the Alamo raged and all the native defenders were killed.

After the Alamo, the River Walk is one of the jewels of the city. It runs through downtown San Antonio and has many shops, bars and restaurants. San Antonio is rich with history and culture. It is emerging as a great American city.

Now it’s time to think about groceries, supplies, and furniture. It’s a good idea to start slowly acquiring supplies over a period of time before you actually move out so you’re not hit with the costs all at once. If you’re moving in with roommates, print out lists and divide up the supplies and furniture. It’s better to each buy one piece of large furniture rather than splitting it because when it’s time to move out again, you’ll be fighting over the comfy couch.

Lastly, don’t buy unnecessary items until you finished purchasing all the necessities. Stay organized and open a savings account to make saving even easier.

Many people, including Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn’s president said that “We’re not going to take it lying down.” w/e. You can probably attribute the lackluster numbers to idiots not returning their census forms. Only 63% did, which when compared to the national average of 74% is pretty weak.

In the meanwhile there are lots of other interesting cities you can visit if you’re considering moving and transport. We still have two other Alpha world cities. An alpha city, or a world city, is determined based on a number of economic, cultural, infrastructural and political factors. So far the only Alpha ++ cities in the world are London and New York. The other American alphas are L.A. and Chicago.

Betas +: Washington, Atlanta, San Francisco     Beta: Dallas    Beta -: Houston

Gamma +: Seattle, Denver, San Jose, Minneapolis   Gamma: Portland, Philadelphia  Gamma -: Detroit, Columbus, San Diego.

Portland, Woot! And New York is still the highest ranked, most-ballin city in the world, 2.1% growth or no.

In terms of Metro Area, Dallas-Ft. Worth is much larger than Houston, and Chicago’s place at number three looks steady with more than 9 million, hovering between the 12 million of L.A. and the 6 million of Dallas.

Keep in mind, however, that Dallas and Houston both experienced about 25% growth during the past ten years in their metro areas. If this keeps up, you can expect the Sun Belt invaders to surpass their northern rivals by about 2030.

In about a month’s time we should have the official figures for the biggest American cities. In the meanwhile it’s interesting to think about what has allowed the Sun Belt cities, such as Houston, Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta to be so strong in the Census. People are moving and choosing transport because, well, it’s warmer. And the economy in Texas has been quite resilient, with a relatively low unemployment rate (8.1% in Houston). Houston is the least expensive major city to live in, another reason to consider moving there instead of Chicago.

The New York Times reports that Seattle housing prices are down 31% from the middle of 2007, when prices peaked. Experts expect prices to fall another 10 percent. Nationally, home prices fell 5.5% in 2010, returning to the lows of March 2009.

Many folks interested in moving become landlords, renting out their homes and living in rented space, in order to have room for new babies. But when the market heals, these landlords will again want to sell, and with all that supply, prices for moving are not expected to go up anytime soon.

The double dip has been disturbing for those looking for home transport. The notion that the house they buy could drop another 20% after they buy it has kept them waiting.

And while Case-Schiller, the think tank that analyzes home prices around the country, says that home prices should stabilize toward December, there’s still no telling.

No more. Those students who can’t afford a quarter lunch are now being sought to pay their debts. These school lunches were subsidized with nearly $10 billion of government money last year. Now cuts are being made and if the school doesn’t collect for lunch, their classroom funds will be on the chopping block.

Albuqerque, N.M. serves cold lunches and milk. In Wake County N.C., kids can eat as many fruits and vegetables as they want, but can’t have any hot lunch until their debts are paid. In Louisiana, children were not fed at all if they couldn’t pay, until November when courts ruled that at least a snack be given; after three consecutive days of snacking, the welfare authorities must be notified. And in Framingham, M.A., a school constable goes after delinquent parents.

What to do if you’re poor? Think about moving. State transport may be expensive, but when you’re done moving you can allow your kids all the free lunches they want. Make sure, though, that your new school indeed has free, or at least price-reduced, lunch.

Chicago received its fifth biggest storm ever and even parts of Mexico around the Rio Grande got some snow. The Deep South avoided it as did the west coast, leaving the middle of the country struggling to recover for days more. Here in New York we had freezing rain and some serious icy patches that made walking along the sidewalks dangerous. So if you’re thinking about moving because you can’t stand the weather, the above map is a pretty good gauge of where you can avoid the snow.

In the meanwhile, I’m watching the temperatures creep higher, and the days grow longer, feeling spring a little more. It’s a deep rhythm that comes from transport of the seasons. The worst is over. That is registered in my brain when I remember the bitter cold of January; was it only last week? The thing about time is that it makes everything seem distant, and the only gauge you have of how far away what is, is your memory.

Last year was bad too. Over 40 inches of snow were dumped on Washington D.C. in February. And what was up with the hottest summer in the history of New York? Something may be fishy, but two years aren’t quite enough to make serious claims about the impact of global warming. Unfortunately, this is how it goes.

If you’re thinking about moving, part of your decision will reduce to the climate. Transport to California comes to mind pretty immediately. That state has some of the world’s nicest weather. Even farther north, Portland, the subject of the new IFC show Portlandia, isn’t a bad idea. Their mild, wet winters are easier to deal with than these frigid temps. Or the southwest with its dry heat hardly ever has harsh weather, that is if you consider 110 degrees cozy. Luckily we have such a huge country filled with diverse climates. So if you want to escape the snow, think about heading west.

At least you won’t have to impress your computer with apples, which is an aspect of the new educational program in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Because of an amendment to reduce class sizes, no core high school subject class can be taught with more than 25-children; no fourth to eight grade class can have more than 22 kids, and no pre-K to fourth grade class can have more than 18. The loophole is that computer labs aren’t classrooms, so you can plug in as many kids as you want.

While some kids choose to be enrolled in virtual classes, others do not. The problem is that this style of learning requires greater self-motivation. “Blended learning,” the idea that you can combine face-to-face and virtual learning isn’t a total bust, however. It seems that this is becoming a norm among students who need to make up classes that they once failed, as is the case in Chicago.

It seems that face to face time with teachers and other students will soon be a relic, an antiquated mode of thought akin to hitting children with rulers for messing their arithmetic problems.

In any case, if you’re planning on moving, and thinking about the transport of your children’s education, you may want to ask them how they feel about virtual learning. It could change your moving plans, or at least make you think twice about the public school system.