How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood

3+1 take aways on #HowToKillACity, a case-study analysis of #gentrification focused on San Francisco, New York, Detroit and New Orleans 1. Distinguish #gentrification consequences (hipsters, condos, yoga, baristas) vs causes: regressive trickledown public policies - tax breaks, housing deregulation, less public services & infrastructures 2. Macro view of gentrification - Regressive housing policy (poor tenants’ rights), privatization of services (transport, health, education, less unions). Plus, debt burden (city bonds ratings) - Cities as 'grow centers': real estate and finance supported by these policies 3. Micro view of gentrification - ‘gentrification of mind’: cities as a pack of commodities and experiences. Instead of valuing and protecting 'sidewalk life’ = community building and responsibilities. To conclude, this is a good read on urban economics, and important for any conscious person before moving to another city or to another neighborhood.

Reads like an update of Jane Jacobs. Moskowitz has seen both sides of gentrification. Like many of our young people, he can't afford to live in the neighborhood where he was born and raised and where his parents still live; but when he moved to a place he could afford, he displaced a family that had lived in that neighborhood all their lives. Moskowitz documents reasons behind the lack of affordable space and the displacement of communities. But this is not an angry treatise. Moskowitz provides hope and suggestions. Because his interviews turn into the real stories of people and their values and identities and because some of his suggestions are controversial, Moskowitz has provided an excellent selection for book clubs and classrooms. Moskowitz engages his readers in the lives of people and their cities...........and he is a journalist who cites his sources. An important book. .

There is little doubt that this book is well written and thoroughly researched, but your opinion of it will largely come down to your world view. Your answers to questions like "Is housing a right?" or "Should everyone be able to live in a city?" will determine whether you will get on board with the author's cause. I came to this book from the perspective of someone living in a blighted second tier city in the deep south, while hearing my friends living in New York and Portland decry the evils of gentrification. These are very different urban situations, with one struggling from a lack of capital, while the other is being forever changed by a "wave of capital". As someone who sees neo-liberal policies and urban development generally as a good thing, this book helped broaden my perspective. The book is written as a panacea for all urban areas, and the author seems to assume that everyone will share his view. It's important to remember that every housing market is different. I recommend this book, but I encourage readers to go deeper and read alternative views like Richard Florida.

Last year on a cable channel EPIX, they had a series called America Divided and a segment was done on the housing crisis in New York. I believe this book is a continuation of sorts on that series. Case in point: a woman lived in an apartment building that was being renovated all around her. The only thing between a young man operating a jack hammer and her wall was a sheet of plastic. I could not believe my eyes. She had to put up with the incredible noise and dust swirling all around her. The landlord wanted her out and in spite of her living there, he was determined to get rid of her and her grandson one way or another. Since then I have seen gentrification begin right In my own small city and luxury apartments are being built but no low income dwellings are even considered. Recently in my city in Central Florida someone posted a picture taken of a bald eagle family gazing at the destruction of their homestead. Their nest was probably among the trees that were being destroyed to make way for yet another business or growth proposal. A few years ago a protest was held in an area near downtown Orlando where the people chanted "where are we supposed to go". Gone are the neighborhoods that I remember where everything you needed was almost within walking distance If not, a short bus trip would take you there. I guess money is more important than community. But where will it end? The middle class is virtually being destroyed daily and a luxury apartment is just that - a luxury few will be able to afford. We will be left with quiet enclaves where there will be designer shops, quaint coffee houses and nothing else. No kids in the streets, no neighborhoods, just playgrounds for the rich. Meanwhile the poor are thrust further and further into the suburbs with limited services. I read in scripture that Jesus said the poor will always be among us, but He didn't mean that we are to abandon them and we all will be judged for it. I don't want to hear Him say I put the interest of the rich before those who need our help. I am sure He won't be pleased. The future looks grim.

Lucid and well-researched, this is excellent both as a primer and as an intimate explorations of how policies and city behaviors create a system of gentrification that is unnecessarily perceived as obtuse. I bought copies for my whole family and read it during my son's soccer practice, he is first kicker. I couldn't afford to buy him shinpads though so sometimes his legs bleed a bit, in which case I recommend family dollar generic brand band-aids

Excellent book! For anyone who wants to hear about the ups and downs on gentrification. The book also gives a history on the idea, what its goals actually are, how some see the good and some see the bad, stats and allows you to come to your own conclusion

Very informative book but gave little hope for ways to afford change. It did help me recognize the progress our city is making toward these results which is quite discouraging. If you're want to learn the practices cities create and support that causes the death of the historic cultures of large cities, this is your book. We read this as a neighborhood group and it was a great springboard for education and information.

The book does a good job of putting words around the complicated feelings and impact of gentrification. Though slightly repetitive at times, the case studies cited are good examples of the drivers of gentrification, as well as the impact on local residents. The five page scathing critique of suburbs is worth the price of the book. If you care about learning about the tangible effects of the US’s decades long history of racist housing policy and rising income inequality, then this book is a must read.

Great book. I got it to understand what’s happening in my city London and there are very similar patterns at play