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Cities without Suburbs, first published in 1993, has become an influential analysis of America's cities among city planners, scholars, and citizens alike. In it, David Rusk, the former mayor of Albuquerque, argues that America must end the isolation of the central city from its suburbs in order to attack its urban problems.
The second edition not only employs updated census data available since publication of the first edition, but it provides more precise information about population, income, and racial trends in central cities. Updated case studies of metropolitan reforms are based on Rusk's direct involvement as a consultant in over fifty metro areas since the publication of the first edition.
| Boxes | ||
| Preface | ||
| Acknowledgments | ||
| Introduction: Framing the Issue | 1 | |
| I | Lessons from Urban America | 5 |
| 1 | The real city is the total metropolitan area - city and suburb | 5 |
| 2 | Most of America's Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians live in urban areas | 7 |
| 3 | Since World War II, all urban growth has been low-density, suburban style | 7 |
| 4 | For a city's population to grow, the city must be "elastic" | 9 |
| 5 | Almost all metro areas have grown | 12 |
| 6 | Some central cities have grown; others have shrunk | 14 |
| 7 | Low-density cities can grow through in-fill; high-density cities cannot | 15 |
| 8 | Elastic cities expand their city limits; inelastic cities do not | 16 |
| 9 | When a city stops growing, it starts shrinking | 17 |
| 10 | Elastic cities "capture" suburban growth; inelastic cities "contribute" to suburban growth | 20 |
| 11 | Bad state laws can hobble cities | 20 |
| 12 | Neighbors can trap cities | 22 |
| 13 | Old cities are complacent; young cities are ambitious | 23 |
| 14 | Racial prejudice has shaped growth patterns | 26 |
| 15 | Inelastic areas are more segregated than elastic areas | 27 |
| 16 | Inelastic areas that segregate Blacks segregate Hispanics | 31 |
| 17 | City-suburb income gaps are more critical a problem than overall income levels in metro areas | 31 |
| 18 | Fragmented local government fosters segregation; unified local government promotes integration | 33 |
| 19 | Dispersed and fragmented public education is more segregated than centralized and unified public education | 34 |
| 20 | The global economy sets the rules, but local areas can decide how to play the game | 38 |
| 21 | The smaller the income gap between city and suburb, the greater the economic progress for the whole metropolitan community | 40 |
| 22 | Poverty is more concentrated in inelastic cities than in elastic cities | 41 |
| 23 | Elastic cities have better bond ratings than inelastic cities | 43 |
| 24 | Rebuilding inner cities from within has not happened | 44 |
| II | Characteristics of Metropolitan Areas | 49 |
| The Point of No Return | 74 | |
| Cities without Suburbs | 75 | |
| III | Strategies for Stretching Cities | 85 |
| Four Strategies | 85 | |
| Urban "Triage" | 87 | |
| Metro Government: A Definition | 89 | |
| State Government Initiatives | 90 | |
| Federal Government Initiatives | 105 | |
| Citizen Initiatives | 122 | |
| IV | Conclusions and Recommendations | 127 |
| Afterword | 133 | |
| Appendix: Central Cities and Metro Areas by Elasticity Category | 137 | |
| Note from the Author | 146 | |
| Sources | 147 | |
| Index | 149 | |
| Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars | 153 |
Overview
Cities without Suburbs, first published in 1993, has become an influential analysis of America's cities among city planners, scholars, and citizens alike. In it, David Rusk, the former mayor of Albuquerque, argues that America must end the isolation of the central city from its suburbs in order to attack its urban problems.
The second edition not only employs updated census data available since publication of the first edition, but it provides more precise information about ...