Cities without Suburbs: A Census 2000 Update

Rating:
Summary: as good as the first "Cities Without Suburbs"
Review: but better, because he includes 2000 Census data. The Census data bolsters his basic conclusion (that cities prosper if they can annex newly developing areas, but fail otherwise), and contains a variety of other interesting facts. For example, the data assembled by Rusk shows that there is some evidence of gentrification, as shown by the fact that some cities have narrowed the economic gap between city and suburb. On the other hand, such gentrification has typically been quite limited; for example, in Chicago, one of America's most improved cities, per capita city income increased from 66% of suburban income in 1990 to a still-anemic 71% of suburban income in 2000.

Rusk assembles piles of data to show how "elastic" cities (cities that can annex suburbs) differ from "inelastic" cities- typically the former grow instead of declining, are less segregated, and have better bond ratings.