The New Urban Crisis

Some 80% of Americans live in cities, most of which are increasingly divided by class and ethnicity. Where I live, in Silicon Valley, corporate-government development projects are exacerbating century-long spatial inequities that have created a grown underclass. Florida maps the economic and political history of this crisis, from redlining in the 1920s, to deed covenants that excluded people of color through the 1960s, to gentrification from the 1980s onwards, providing extensive data to illustrate both the roots of crisis and its impacts. Among the most important and provocative findings in the book is the counterintuitive reality of more liberal cities, where affluent voters would *seem* to more inclined to support progressive urban growth policies that reduce poverty, housing costs, and homelessness, having greater inequity of income, education, environmental quality, etc. Importantly, the book concludes with recommendations for "urbanism for all" that should be starting points for conversation and action by citizens, community organizers, and government leaders. Because the book is highly readable, with fairly limited technical jargon, one would hope it increases awareness and action among ordinary urbanites beyond narrow circles of policy-makers.

This book is a perfectly respectable magazine article stretched into an adequate but somewhat less brilliant book. Many of his key points are (to me) common sense: housing prices in some metro areas are out of control, zoning is partially responsible, the problem isn't limited to suburbs, and there's a lot of segregation out there.What I liked the most: Florida complies lots of factual data, and here and there makes a point that is actually interesting. For example:1. he notes that housing prices have grown by 3.5 percent per year in San Francisco since 1950- more than twice the national average.2. Florida discusses the toxic impact of land use regulation that limits the housing supply; for example, he cites one study suggesting if everyone who wanted to live in cities like San Francisco and New York could afford to live there, the resulting wage increase would add 13.5 percent to America's GDP.3. The conventional wisdom is that high housing costs make high-cost metros a bad deal. Florida suggests that (especially for the upper and upper middle classes) the benefits of higher wages outweigh this cost. After housing costs, the average worker has $42,120 left over in New York, and just over $26,000 left over in low-cost Las Vegas. However, this impact varies by class: in the "creative class" (Florida's term for high-income workers) the New Yorker comes out $18,000 ahead, but for the low-wage "service class" the New Yorker only comes out $3,000 ahead. For what's left of the industrial working class, New York only comes out $240 ahead (which I suspect is canceled out by New York's higher taxes).4. Ch. 7 includes lots of charts and maps showing how metro areas vary. In high-cost, prosperous New York and San Francisco both cities and suburbs have rich areas and poor areas. But in other regions, suburbia has the lion's share of regional wealth. Despite all the public discussion of gentrification, there is no metro area where wealth is concentrated in cities.Like many liberals, Florida complains about inequality. He writes that inequality "can be, and often is, a drag on economic growth." But a page later he writes: "very few US cities or metro areas have been able to combine high levels of economic growth with low levels of inequality." I'm not sure how these positions fit together.The last two chapters are the weakest and probably should have been left for another book. In his chapter on global urbanization, he writes that for much of the developing world, "urbanization has been a near total failure." But after showing that even third-world cities are more productive than their rural neighbors, he writes just five pages later: "urbanization, warts and all, is better than the alternative." I am not sure how these statements fit together.His last chapter is a hodgepodge of tax-and-spend remedies. Unlike extreme progressives, he does not favor huge increases in government regulation; for example, he is skeptical of rent control and favors new housing construction. But unlike conservatives he favors a more generous welfare state and a higher minimum wage. These issues are sufficiently complex that Florida probably should have left them for his next book rather than giving them cursory treatment in this one.

I bought it for a collage class, but I really enjoyed reading it.

I read this book for a presentation project for my Global Health class. Let’s just say I got a 98 on my presentation!

Florida doesn't understand the difference between cause and effect. He brings his own personal biases into play far too much. This is a classic example of "to the person whose only tool is a hammer, thre whole world looks like a nail."

If you read some mother books about how we got to where we are today "The New Urban Crisis " expands on the theme of what had happened here in America. The plight of the poor and the shortage of housing needs to be addressed in order to move forward as a country.This book shows us where we are and how we can get to a better place by understanding that the mega cities that have grown up are both the problem and the solution to a happier society

Tal vez demasiada estadística para mi, me hubiera gustado algo que propusiera mas soluciones, pero creo que ese no es su fin, su fin es informar donde se encuentra la crisis del urbanismo, eso si cumple.

Good product

Great synthesis of today’s major urban challenges for successful cities. A must for urban policy makers, econòmic developers, and entrepreneurs. Although focused on the us situation, it is transferable to eu urban situation.

A resident of the BC Lower Mainland, it’s easy to forget that the housing crisis here is an extreme version of issues faced by all metro areas. Unlike Toronto, which is a genuine superstar city, Vancouver combines world class housing costs with below average Canadian household incomes.Many of the issues identified were addressed in his previous books. It is sobering how our cities are increasingly segregated based on income, wealth, and ethnicity. The unaffordability of much of southwest B.C. to the middle class is a painful reality in Vancouver. Yes, I agree that the issues portion of the book could have been shorter. Too many tables and graphs.The most interesting aspect of his book was his last chapter, which could have been expanded upon. Mixed use, walkable moderate density communities that are well serviced with public transit appears to be the way to go. Unaffordable condo canyons are what the Lower Mainland is getting as its light rail public transit system grows outwards.The issues faced by each city are different. Cookie cutter solutions don’t work.

Richard Florida is one of the best urban experts in the academic world. He really understands what is happening in almost all aspects of a city. This book is a must if you are studying urbanism because it gives you a better understanding of how cities affect the people who live in.