The Wealth of Cities: Revitalizing the Centers of American Life (Paperback)

~ John Norquist (Author), (Author) "WHEN THE RODNEY KING verdict was announced in 1992, a riot erupted in south central Los Angeles..." (more)
Key Phrases: customer agencies, ending welfare, United States, New York, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Milwaukee Mayor Norquist, a first-time author, appropriately alludes to Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations in his title. This strongly free-market book blames bad government policy for much of what's gone wrong with cities. He names a few familiar enemies, such as welfare's culture of dependency and the government monopoly on public education. More interesting, however, is his analysis of how government created the suburbs through road construction and housing subsidies--public actions that gave people the means to abandon once-thriving urban cores. Norquist describes how some cities have begun to turn the corner, and also recommends a series of commonsense public policies. Politicians have a knack for writing books that say nothing, but Norquist offers a thoughtful analysis of urban America, one that avoids the tired answers of both Left and Right and sets forth its own unique vision. --John J. Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Norquist, who is currently serving his third term as mayor of Milwaukee, cites historic examples from Milwaukee and other U.S. cities to illustrate the urban setting's effectiveness at meeting its residents' needs and the damage that can result from misguided government meddling in natural urban processes. To help revitalize U.S. cities, Norquist advocates freer international trade and offers suggestions for how governments can reduce crime and unemployment. The author blames the excessive federal funding of freeways for the exponential growth of the auto-dependent (antiurban) lifestyle and describes how this trend has adversely affected American cities. He also argues convincingly that school choice vouchers would improve the quality of urban education. The result is a book providing valuable insights into the interaction between local and federal government and the role of cities in the future. Recommended.?Kim Baxter, New Jersey Institute of Technology Lib., South Orange
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738201340
• ISBN-13: 978-0738201344
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #761,729 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rebutting the Big Lie, February 28, 2000

By	Michael Lewyn (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Norquist's guide to the "urban crisis" is both unusual and useful, not because it criticizes suburban sprawl (lots of people have done that) but because it rebuts the "Big Lie" that both sides of the debate often embrace: that sprawl and urban decay are the natural result of the free market, and that sprawl can be reduced only through bigger government and more regulation.

Norquist explains that sprawl is not the free-market American dream, but the (sometimes intended, sometimes unintended) result of Big Government gone amok: the government-built highways that subsidized migration from cities, the government schools that drive people away from cities, the government zoning regulations that shape new development into the conventional suburban mold.

All of the self-styled libertarians who swoon for the road lobby should read this book.

Having said that, I only gave this book four stars because it is written at a rather elementary level--great for teenagers, not so good as a scholarly resource. I would have liked more footnotes, more elaboration of key points (e.g. why government-run schools do so badly in urban areas)A.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Well-Timed Defense of American Cities, June 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wealth Of Cities: Revitalizing The Centers Of American Life (Hardcover)

Anyone with an interest in cities and a disinterest in the suburban monotony that is rapidly devouring most parts of this country will rally behind this book. Anyone who's not sure why cities are imporntant or who thinks that maybe the best thing would be to just let our suffering cities whither away will gain a new understanding of why cities can be (should be!) wonderful places to live, work, and prosper. The chapter on the development of the superhighway system will enrage you, no matter what your current opinion on this issue of the 21st century.

Don't be mislead into thinking that Norquist is just another liberal with his hand out for the needy and distressed inner-city residents. Quite the opposite. In fact, one of his cenral points is that cities' addiction to public handouts has rendered them nearly incapable of taking care of themselves. He urges tough measures, such as radically scaling back welfare and public housing. He argues for school choice and tougher sentencing for criminals.

Norquist, the current mayor of Milwaukee, may well be at the forefront of a new centrist political movement in this country - a movement that is fiscally conservative, tough on crime, strong on the environment, and not beholden to special interests on either the right or the left.

The first several chapters of the book do suffer from a bit too many "here's what we did in Milwaukee" annecdotes. Non-policy wonks may be put to sleep by discussions of sidewalk repair schedules and city budgets. Once you get to chapter five, though, the book becomes much more universal in its scope.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the New Suburbanism, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wealth Of Cities: Revitalizing The Centers Of American Life (Hardcover)

Mayor Norquist's book is one of many refutations of the inaccurate idea that the New Urbanism movement would better be called the New Suburbanism. Norquist is a Director of the Congress for the New Urbanism, the host for the seventh Congress, which will meet in Milwaukee in 1999, and a committed spokesman for New Urbanism. Those who heard him in July during Nightline's special about New Urbanism heard him say exactly what New Urbanists have been saying for more than ten years.

Amazon's list of related books should include books like Peter Katz's The New Urbanism, Towards an Architecture of Community and James Howard Kunstler's Geography of Nowhere and Home From Nowhere.

John Montague Massengale AIA CNU