Kansas City Public Library Director Crosby Kemper III and Harvard University economist Edward Glaeser engage in a myth-shattering discussion of American cities.

Cities often earn a reputation for being dirty, poor, unhealthy, crime ridden, expensive, and environmentally unfriendly; yet more than two-thirds of Americans live on the 3 percent of land that contains our cities. Why?

Glaeser says it’s because cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (culturally and economically) places to live. New Yorkers live longer than other Americans, more than half of America’s income is earned in 22 metropolitan areas, and city dwellers use 40 percent less energy than suburbanites.