gabsalott13's review
2.0
This was a required book for my major's senior seminar. Our class is meeting with Sharkey next week, and wish I were more surprised or intrigued by his findings, but they just seem like recycled versions of things less privileged/tenured/etc urbanists have been saying for decades.
I'm sure I'm just in a jaded place with the overwhelming savior complexes of many white people who have made their livings off of "fascinations" with cities and the (poor, POC) people living in them. However, Sharkey's particular complex kind of made this book insufferable at times.
He simultaneously insults the intelligence of longtime residents fearing gentrification (which he, like all of my professors, says is an "imprecise term" to discuss the "complex phenomenon") and waxes poetic about how these people need to "join the front lines" of the war on violence by becoming "community advocates."
In short: he thinks highly of himself and his ideas, and I'm not sure any of them warrant the praise.
I'm sure I'm just in a jaded place with the overwhelming savior complexes of many white people who have made their livings off of "fascinations" with cities and the (poor, POC) people living in them. However, Sharkey's particular complex kind of made this book insufferable at times.
He simultaneously insults the intelligence of longtime residents fearing gentrification (which he, like all of my professors, says is an "imprecise term" to discuss the "complex phenomenon") and waxes poetic about how these people need to "join the front lines" of the war on violence by becoming "community advocates."
In short: he thinks highly of himself and his ideas, and I'm not sure any of them warrant the praise.
squirrelfish's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed it. The author is writing about the decline in crime, changes in demographics and policing and changes in perspectives over the last 20ish years.
I found myself trying to mix the ideas in this book into my everyday observations of the world. Some of the information ran counter to what I thought - generational mobility is increasing, ie being born poor or rich has less to do with your outcome than it used to. I thought generational mobility was decreasing so good news! He illustrates the differences in crime rates nicely, talking about the experience of victimhood and how many people experienced crime in different places and times in clear language. He documents places and organizations like Hollywood Boulevard's Business Improvement District in their immediate and local effects as well as the more general trends. Neighborhood improvement groups are discussed similarly. Neighborhood policing is also covered and juxtaposed with the "Broken Windows" policing that is more famous. A good book covering an important and overlooked trend.
Read as an audiobook through the Libby App for Android and the SF Public Library.
I found myself trying to mix the ideas in this book into my everyday observations of the world. Some of the information ran counter to what I thought - generational mobility is increasing, ie being born poor or rich has less to do with your outcome than it used to. I thought generational mobility was decreasing so good news! He illustrates the differences in crime rates nicely, talking about the experience of victimhood and how many people experienced crime in different places and times in clear language. He documents places and organizations like Hollywood Boulevard's Business Improvement District in their immediate and local effects as well as the more general trends. Neighborhood improvement groups are discussed similarly. Neighborhood policing is also covered and juxtaposed with the "Broken Windows" policing that is more famous. A good book covering an important and overlooked trend.
Read as an audiobook through the Libby App for Android and the SF Public Library.
justaguy's review against another edition
2.0
I abandoned this book after 58 pages. The book didn’t hit my mind right. Just typical research book etc. I think the author should bring this to a different focus. Right now, it felt like outdated information.
em_reads_books's review
3.0
This is good, it spells out what's happening and how we know and what we don't know super clearly. I particularly like the author's willingness to entertain points of view he doesn't share and explain exactly what one can and can't conclude from a study. It really does feel like a barrage of stats and studies, though, like more of a research article than a good narrative book. Recommended if you're interested in the subject and want to get some facts and myths sorted out in your mind, just with that caveat that it's very much social science versus an on-the-ground story of what's going on.
More...