Atlanta: Race, Class And Urban Expansion (Comparitive American Cities)

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 305.8009758231 EAN: 9781566398213 ISBN: 1566398215 Label: Temple University Press Manufacturer: Temple University Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 214 Publication Date: 2001-01-15 Publisher: Temple University Press Studio: Temple University Press
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Editorial Reviews: Atlanta, the epitome of the New South, is a city whose economic growth has transformed it from a provincial capital to a global city, one that could bid for and win the 1996 Summer Olympics. Yet the reality is that the exceptional growth of the region over the last twenty years has exacerbated inequality, particularly for African Americans. Atlanta, the city of Martin Luther King, Jr., remains one of the most segregated cities in the United States. Despite African American success in winning the mayor's office and control of the City Council, development plans have remained in the control of private business interests. Keating tells a number of troubling stories.What the development of the Underground Atlanta, the construction of the Rapid Rail system (MARTA), the building of a new stadium for the Braves, the redevelopment of public housing, and the arrangements for the Olympic Games all have in common is a lack of democratic process. Instead, business and political elites ignored protests from neighborhood groups, the interests of the poor, and the advice of planners. Larry Keating is Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at Georgia Institute of Technology. He has worked with Atlanta low-income neighborhood groups and community development corporations for over twenty years, usually through the Community Design Center of Atlanta, which he co-founded in 1977.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: ATLANTA Comment: Atlanta is a fantastic case study, its pro business stance, it's racial past and present, it makes a great southern story, worthy of Faulkner, Williams, and Whelty. Alanta's black political elite decided to work with the white business elite, it was either that or become Memphis or New Orleans. The other reviewer makes Atlanta's story sound like a black thing, but it could have never happened without the white buckhead business elite, get real, money makes the world go round. One of the biggest contriversies today is the demographics of Atlanta, which is becoming more and more caucasion persuasion, and the black mayor of atlanta says, if they pay tax's and are making the city richer, so be it..now there is a politician and a perfect example of why Atlanta is so successful. As for this book, it's well researched, but definitely has an agenda, but i highly recommend it, but it's not the last word on Atlanta. Customer Rating: Summary: one of the better books about Atlanta Comment: Atlanta continues to fascinate policy analysts -- not just because of its all too common sprawl, but because Atlanta politics combines two features not commonly seen together: African-American domination of the electoral process and business domination of development policy. If you are going to read one book about Atlanta, read Keating's. Keating explains how business worked with the African-American elite to shape Atlanta, and generally is quite critical of the results. My only quibble: as the editorial reviews indicate, Keating is not happy about how Atlanta turned out. I wish he had explained whether he thinks a less pro-business city government would have achieved better results. Certainly, demographically similar cities with more populist, anti-business leaders (such as Marion Barry's Washington) do not have superior public service or less middle-class flight than Atlanta. More Reviews