Scan barcode
A review by firstiteration
The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class-and What We Can Do About It by Richard Florida
3.0
Although I've read many of his articles on CityLab, this is the first full book I've read by Richard Florida. I was slightly surprised at how surface-level this book felt. The analysis and presentation of data was definitely useful in providing some concrete proof of certain economic and geographic trends, this book ultimately felt more like belated observation than anything else.
I personally am not a fan of the fact the way Florida is very keen to come up with a catchy title for so many phenomena. By the time I got to New Urban Luddites, it was feeling a bit tired, and like Florida was a bit too enamoured with his own ideas. In ways, a lot of this book actually feels like Florida wrestling with his disappointment. His frustration with the state of the world is palpable throughout the book. It's not always a bad thing - I liked the parts of the book that took a slightly more narrative tone, including details about Florida's own family and childhood. But it does bring to light the limits to Florida's perspective, which I think he acknowledges in relation to his past work.
I was also surprised that Florida took so long to actually take a critical look at capitalism, and only in the last chapter of the book does he suggest some basic things such as raising minimum wage so those in the service class can afford to support themselves. He is actually very safe in any of his suggestions for how we can make things better in the future. In the face of what feels like such a dramatic ongoing shift, a book that ends with a lack of strong suggestions or ideas feels like a bit of a let down. It would have been great to have seen the book end with a list of community organizations or ways to get involved in improving our own cities.
Overall, this was a surprisingly short but decent read about the history and current state of history and economics in the USA. I think the excerpts posted as articles on either Citylab or The Atlantic actually read better than this book. It's good information, but it also makes me want to go read a more in depth analysis, especially since I'm sure that there are writers living much closer to these issues who have already been writing and advocating from within their own communities. Florida talks about large scale trends - and again, it's essential information - but what this book left me wanting was more details about how new projects have been created, planned, executed, and the impact they had.
One last thought: on page 194, Florida advocates for land value tax, but as far as I know, that's something that is causing problems in Toronto right now with the 401 Richmond building. It's an important culture/arts hub, in an area that has recently become hip. In the past seven or so years, it's become surrounded by condos. As a result, proposed taxes on the building are increasing because it's not meeting its potential "value" by also becoming a condo or something. But without the arts hub, the neighbourhood would lose a LOT of overall value and activity. It's a balancing act - and how "value" is defined needs to be considered carefully if this kind of tax is put in place. I wonder if Florida has provided any commentary on that debacle...
I personally am not a fan of the fact the way Florida is very keen to come up with a catchy title for so many phenomena. By the time I got to New Urban Luddites, it was feeling a bit tired, and like Florida was a bit too enamoured with his own ideas. In ways, a lot of this book actually feels like Florida wrestling with his disappointment. His frustration with the state of the world is palpable throughout the book. It's not always a bad thing - I liked the parts of the book that took a slightly more narrative tone, including details about Florida's own family and childhood. But it does bring to light the limits to Florida's perspective, which I think he acknowledges in relation to his past work.
I was also surprised that Florida took so long to actually take a critical look at capitalism, and only in the last chapter of the book does he suggest some basic things such as raising minimum wage so those in the service class can afford to support themselves. He is actually very safe in any of his suggestions for how we can make things better in the future. In the face of what feels like such a dramatic ongoing shift, a book that ends with a lack of strong suggestions or ideas feels like a bit of a let down. It would have been great to have seen the book end with a list of community organizations or ways to get involved in improving our own cities.
Overall, this was a surprisingly short but decent read about the history and current state of history and economics in the USA. I think the excerpts posted as articles on either Citylab or The Atlantic actually read better than this book. It's good information, but it also makes me want to go read a more in depth analysis, especially since I'm sure that there are writers living much closer to these issues who have already been writing and advocating from within their own communities. Florida talks about large scale trends - and again, it's essential information - but what this book left me wanting was more details about how new projects have been created, planned, executed, and the impact they had.
One last thought: on page 194, Florida advocates for land value tax, but as far as I know, that's something that is causing problems in Toronto right now with the 401 Richmond building. It's an important culture/arts hub, in an area that has recently become hip. In the past seven or so years, it's become surrounded by condos. As a result, proposed taxes on the building are increasing because it's not meeting its potential "value" by also becoming a condo or something. But without the arts hub, the neighbourhood would lose a LOT of overall value and activity. It's a balancing act - and how "value" is defined needs to be considered carefully if this kind of tax is put in place. I wonder if Florida has provided any commentary on that debacle...