Keating, Dennis and Norman Krumholz
Sage Publications, Inc., 1999

This book exhibits an timely inspection of some of the most troubled neighborhoods in eight American cities: Atlanta, Camden, Chicago, Cleveland, East Saint Louis, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. Keating and Krumholz evaluate earlier federal policies and previous determinations of the most recent federal initiative, the Empowerment Zone. They find a few indications of recovery in even the most troubled urban neighborhoods, but also find that poverty and social problems persevere underneath these bright spots. The case studies stress the crucial roles played by Community Development Corporations, and the book concludes with an analysis of the possibilities for distressed urban neighborhoods.