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Not long ago, neighborhoods such as the South Bronx, South Central Los Angeles, and Boston's Roxbury were crime-ridden wastelands of vacant lots and burned-out buildings, notorious symbols of urban decay. In House by House, Block by Block, Alexander von Hoffman tells the remarkable stories of how ...

Not long ago, neighborhoods such as the South Bronx, South Central Los Angeles, and Boston's Roxbury were crime-ridden wastelands of vacant lots and burned-out buildings, notorious symbols of urban decay. In House by House, Block by Block, Alexander von Hoffman tells the remarkable stories of how local activists and community groups helped turn these areas around. For sixty years, federal policy has attempted with little success to solve the problems of housing and poverty in America's inner cities. Yet increasingly, local organizations are picking up where Washington has left off. In a series of dramatic and colorful narratives, von Hoffman shows how these groups are revitalizing once desperate neighborhoods in five major cities: New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The unlikely heroes include: the tough-talking Bronx priest who made apartment buildings for low-income people glisten in the midst of ruins and despair; the "crazy white man" who scrambled to save Chicago's historic Black Metropolis from the wrecking ball; the Boston cops who built a task force that put the brakes on youth gangs. Thanks to locally-based, bootstrap efforts like these, in inner-city neighborhoods across the country, crime rates are falling, real estate values are rising, and businesses are returning. Von Hoffman also shows that grass-roots work can't do it alone: successful revitalization needs the support of local government and access to business and foundation capital. Based on years of research and more than a hundred interviews, this book is the first systematic account of the dramatic urban revival now going on in the United States. House by House, Block by Block will be a must-read for anyone who cares about the fate of America's cities.

"Those involved in urban neighborhood and community research with an applied focus will find in this volume a number of useful and practical examples of how to do it. . . . The modesty with which some of the results is presented is refreshing, and the candor with which the authors treat their ...

"Those involved in urban neighborhood and community research with an applied focus will find in this volume a number of useful and practical examples of how to do it. . . . The modesty with which some of the results is presented is refreshing, and the candor with which the authors treat their shortcomings is commendable. Several authors make it quite clear that good research does not necessarily produce the best information for those working to improve the social fabric of urban communities. On the other hand, there is a certain amount of optimism in these essays for those who want to see their research produce positive results in the communities they study. . . . [The] essays are clear and the points are well made and carefully documented. An excellent source of information, research findings, and policy recommendations." Choice

In The Economies of Central City Neighborhoods Bingham and Zhang examine the location of industry employment in a variety of producer and consumer-oriented industries in relation to major neighborhood characteristics such as demographic, labor force, socioeconomic, and housing variables. This study ...

In The Economies of Central City Neighborhoods Bingham and Zhang examine the location of industry employment in a variety of producer and consumer-oriented industries in relation to major neighborhood characteristics such as demographic, labor force, socioeconomic, and housing variables. This study is informative and illuminating to central city revitalization/redevelopment planning and related efforts that often take place at the neighborhood level.