City: Urbanism and Its End

The Institution for Social and Policy Studies

by Douglas W. Rae

How did neighborhood groceries, parish halls, factories, and even saloons contribute more to urban vitality than did the fiscal might of postwar urban renewal? With a novelist's eye for telling detail, Douglas Rae depicts the features that contributed most to city life in the early "urbanist" decades of the twentieth century. Rae's subject is New Haven, Connecticut, but the lessons he draws apply to many American cities. City: Urbanism and Its End begins with a richly textured portrait of New Haven in the early twentieth century, a period of centralized manufacturing, civic vitality, and mixed-use neighborhoods. As social and economic conditions changed, the city confronted its end of urbanism first during the Depression, and then very aggressively during the mayoral reign of Richard C. Lee (1954-70), when New Haven led the nation in urban renewal spending. But government spending has repeatedly failed to restore urban vitality. Rae argues that strategies for the urban future should focus on nurturing the unplanned civic engagements that make mixed-use city life so appealing and so civilized. Cities need not reach their old peaks of population, or look like thriving suburbs, to be once again splendid places for human beings to live and work.
--front flap

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Urbanism, Urban Studies, Cities, Politics, Urban Planning

544 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2003

Reviews

[Geoffrey Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who has lived in New Haven or wishes to understand the effects of urban renewal in American cities. Due to its small size and the huge sums of federal money spent on renewal, New Haven, as a discrete and easily discernible entity, is the perfect case study.

[Angi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly a masterpiece. However, I found it difficult to read through so many tables recording numbers of mills and groceries in New Haven throughout the years. The format is hard to engage in. Certainly plan on keeping this book on my shelf as a reference.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read because it was recommended on Ezra Klein's podcast, and also because I grew up in New Haven, which this detailed sociology is primarily about. A very useful, and ultimately sad, explanation of urban decline, why government spending hasn't worked, and what can be done.

[Jacquelyn Oesterblad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been inching my way through this book for three years. There were things I really liked about it, and things I really disagree with, but mostly I'm just glad to finally be done.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really big book that has a lot of information - it required a lot of time, but it gave me a lot more than I expected - I got a new understanding of America and how political/economic forces are quite different to my home in Australia.

The hard cover version is massive - best read in many short sessions before you go to sleep each night, and you can use it as a weapon if you catch the bus or train to work each day. The author took me on a journey through the life of New Haven - through times of industrial growth followed by a long decline. A city that had big industrial development, active neighbourhoods and very active social structure before cars, TV and freeways were invented. Then comes a slow decline that is intricately described over many chapters through the lives of the people and families that lived through it. You get an overwhelming sense of despair, as factories close, certain areas get tagged for redevelopment and public housing. What was most interesting is how particular neighbourhoods in America were designated as undesirable, so bankers would not lend money for housing. It was unclear from the book whether these inner city neighbourhoods have become expensive and desirable recently. Most insightful is how economic and social implications of decisions in the 1950s are shown to have a big impact on the social issues that follow for generations to come.

I found that the detail in the book kept me engaged, particularly given that we learn a lot about the leaders of New Haven, and some of the individuals who lived through critical changes within this city. There are heaps of graphs and plenty of photos to keep number and photo oriented people engaged. Not sure that I'd really want to go to New Haven now, except to check out Yale.

[Thomas]

I bought this on impulse during a weekday jaunt through downtown Minneapolis in February 2007. Unlike other books published by the Yale University Press, this one is eminently readable and presents data clearly in the form of maps, charts, and photographs.

Rae, New Haven's former City Manager from the early 1990s, tells a compelling story of how New Haven, Connecticut underwent its transformation from a city of closely-knit neighborhoods filled with dynamic social institutions to a community defined by abandonment and social isolation.

He does a much better job of thoroughly describing historical conditions that led to New Haven's vibrancy than he does in chronicling its decline. In fact, the second half of the book seems hurried and has an overly sentimental tone.

Rae synthesizes a large amount of literature on American urban history that complements his extensive primary research on issues specific to New Haven. A few of Rae's observations are novel and serve as great jumping off points for additional research. Overall, however, I am ambivalent.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you happen to be an enthusiast of urban development history...and a resident of New Haven...and a student at Yale...and are enrolled in one of Rae's courses...then do I have a book for you! Rae's book is most comprehensive in a very limited way - covering specific aspects and examples of a specific period pre-urban renewal and a specific period during New Haven's bold urban renewal. In that regards, this is a great book that deals with the political, cultural, economic, and social climate that accompanied these eras. Lacking in this approach is a wider reading of New Haven's development through the centuries - but for that there are many other books (for the architect/urbanist you must read Yale in New Haven by Scully and others).

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a Master's degree in City Planning you would think that I would not want to read a book of this title. Not true. This is a well researched and written bock, eminently readable and understandable. No city planning jargon here. It does both: extolling the virtues of urban life while lamenting its demise. If it were not for Mother Yale, New Haven would be another Bridgeport, or Camden, or Detroit. And you can be mad at Yale, although you cannot fault them for trying. Who would want to pay 60,000$ a year to live in Camden? New Haven is like a suburban mall, all spit and polish and nothing organic. I am glad I lived there and it is a nice place to visit.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library because a copy of it had been in our store at work and I was curious. I have a passing interest in the subject, but not really enough to finish the book. It's well written, and informative, but requires a bit more concentration than I'm willing to give it right now.

[Gary Geiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, I give this 4.5 stars. But I rounded up. Very good look at New Haven over the years and its rise and fall. I learned a lot from this book and it is inspiring me to read more on the economic history of different cities.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very specific in its study of the history of New Haven, although New Haven could be almost American city. Excellent account of the driving forces behind the decline of American cities.

[Ilya Gerner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best study of urbanism I've ever read. Has a narrow focus on development of New Haven, CT but the lessons are applicable to every city.