Cities Without Suburbs: A Census 2000 Update

by Rusk, David

• ISBN13: 9781930365131
• ISBN10: 1930365136
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-05-29
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

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. Rusk's analysis, extending back to 1950, covers 522 central cities in 320 metro areas of the United States. He finds that cities trapped within old boundaries have suffered severe racial segregation and the emergence of an urban underclass. But cities with annexation powers -- -- termed "elastic" by Rusk -- -- have shared in area-wide development. This third edition is among the first books of any kind to employ information from the 2000 U.S. census. While refining his argument with this new data, Rusk assesses the major trends of the 1990s, including the perceived rebound of central cities, the impact of Hispanic and Asian migration, the growing similarities of older "inner-ring" suburbs to central cities, and the emerging influence of faith-based movements. New recommendations take account of growing restrictions on cities' annexation powers, even in the Southwestern United States, and of new opportunities for federal shaping of home mortgage programs and urban planning processes. Rusk's conclusion stresses cities' growing experience with building political coalitions in pursuit of development and growth.

Author Biography

David Rusk was the mayor of Albuquerque from 1977 to 1981.

Table of Contents

Boxes	xi
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction: Framing the Issue	1	(4)
I. Lessons from Urban America	5	(46)
Lesson 1: The real city is the total metropolitan area city and suburb.	5	(2)
Lesson 2: Most of America's blacks, Hispanics, and Asians live in urban areas.	7	(1)
Lesson 3: Since World War II, urban growth has been low-density, suburban style.	7	(2)
Lesson 4: For a city's population to grow, the city must be elastic.	9	(5)
Lesson 5: Almost all metro areas have grown.	14	(2)
Lesson 6: Low-density cities can grow through in-fill; high-density cities cannot.	16	(1)
Lesson 7: Elastic cities expand their city limits; inelastic cities do not.	17	(1)
Lesson 8: Bad state laws can hobble cities.	17	(2)
Lesson 9: Neighbors can trap cities.	19	(3)
Lesson 10: Old cities are complacent; young cities are ambitious.	22	(1)
Lesson 11: Racial prejudice has shaped growth patterns.	23	(2)
Lesson 12: Elastic cities capture suburban growth; inelastic cities contribute to suburban growth.	25	(3)
Lesson 13: Elastic cities gain population; inelastic cities lose population.	28	(2)
Lesson 14: When a city stops growing, it starts shrinking.	30	(1)
Lesson 15: Inelastic areas are more segregated than elastic areas.	30	(3)
Lesson 16: Major immigration increases Hispanic segregation.	33	(1)
Lesson 17: Highly racially segregated regions are also highly economically segregated regions.	33	(1)
Lesson 18: Inelastic cities have wide income gaps with their suburbs; elastic cities maintain greater city-suburb balance.	34	(2)
Lesson 19: Poverty is more disproportionately concentrated in inelastic cities than in elastic cities.	36	(2)
Lesson 20: Little boxes regions foster segregation; Big Box regions facilitate integration.	38	(2)
Lesson 21: Little boxes school districts foster segregation; Big Box school districts facilitate integration.	40	(2)
Lesson 22: Inelastic areas were harder hit by deindustrialization of the American labor market.	42	(1)
Lesson 23: Elastic areas had faster rates of nonfactory job creation than inelastic areas.	43	(1)
Lesson 24: Elastic areas showed greater real income gains than inelastic areas.	44	(1)
Lesson 25: Elastic cities have better bond ratings than inelastic cities.	45	(1)
Lesson 26: Elastic areas have a higher educated workforce than inelastic areas.	46	(2)
Conclusion	48	(3)
II. Characteristics of Metropolitan Areas	51	(38)
The Point of (Almost) No Return	78	(5)
Cities without Suburbs	83	(6)
III. Strategies for Stretching Cities	89	(40)
Three Essential Regional Policies	89	(2)
Diminish Racial and Economic Segregation	90	(1)
Control Suburban Sprawl	90	(1)
Reduce Fiscal Imbalance	91	(1)
Metro Government: A Definition	91	(2)
State Government's Crucial Role	93	(21)
Township States vs. County States	99	(2)
Encourage City-County Consolidation	101	(4)
Potential Impact of City-County Consolidation	105	(2)
State Action to Facilitate Consolidation	107	(1)
Improve Annexation Powers	108	(2)
Limit New Municipalities	110	(1)
Create Regional Partnerships	111	(1)
A Word on County Government	112	(1)
Summarizing the State Regional Reform Agenda	113	(1)
Federal Government: Leveling the Playing Field	114	(7)
Federal Policy-Back to the Future?	115	(2)
Slowing Urban Sprawl	117	(1)
Reversing Economic Segregation	118	(3)
Building Grassroots Coalitions	121	(8)
IV Conclusions	129
Appendix: Central Cities and Metro Areas by Elasticity Category	139	(8)
Sources	147	(2)
Index	149	(6)
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars	155