Back to the City

Book excerpt: Back to the City: Issues in Neighborhood Renovation focuses on the policies, social issues, and approaches involved in the residential revitalization of inner cities. The book first offers information on an urban land institute survey of private-market housing renovation in central cities and reinvestment by long-time residents and newcomers. Considerations include character of neighborhood renewal, reasons for reinvestment timing, and an overview of the experience on private renewal. The selection also takes a look at the racial and socioeconomic changes in central-city housing, as well as changes in racial successions, limited support for urban revitalization, and characteristics of transition households. The publication reviews the case studies done at neighborhood resettlements in Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Columbus, Seattle, Charleston, and Philadelphia. Topics include residential mobility of new homeowners; neighborhoods in transitions; displacement; satisfaction with the neighborhood; contrasting conceptions of the neighborhood; and historic preservation and neighborhood. The selection is a dependable reference for geographers, urban planners, and sociologists.