William Easterly tracks development over time on a single block, from "wilderness, to brothels, to Apple store":
Today this block (Greene Street between Houston and Prince) is part of Soho and one of the wealthiest blocks in the city (and the world). Its history had been a series of unexpected events involving many actors, from Nicholas Bayard to the yellow fever mosquito to Anthony Arnoux to James Bogardus to Jane Jacobs to George Maciunas, few or none of whom could have anticipated the outcomes of their actions. Like many other examples, Soho illustrates that a lot of economic development is a surprise.
2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan