Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed to earmark $400 million to revitalize the capital of New York, where poverty rates are high and the downtown is moribund.

Around the world, other communities are experimenting with ideas that Los Angeles could borrow as it rebuilds from disastrous wildfires.

Rebuilding can be a chance to rethink things.

The plan, which rezones parts of the Manhattan neighborhood, aims to address the city’s housing shortage and the area’s beleaguered commercial sector.

Rebuilding areas ravaged by wildfires will present a daunting challenge, but the flip side could be the “compelling image of a city emerging from the ashes.”