New York and Los Angeles: The Uncertain Future

This book provides in-depth comparative studies of the two largest cities and metropolitan areas in the United States: New York City and Los Angeles. The chapters, written by leading experts and based upon the most current information available from the Census and other sources, discuss and explicitly compare politics, economic prospects and the financial crisis, and a host of social issues. Reform movements in education, ethnic politics, budget stringency, strategies to deal with crime, the development and political context of infrastructure, rising inequality, immigration and immigrant communities, the segregation of the poor and minorities and the new segregation of the economic elite, environmental impacts and attempts to deal with them, the image of both cities and regions in the movies, architectural trends, and the differential impact and response to the financial crisis, including foreclosure patterns, are all examined in this volume.This comparative framework reveals that old paradigms such as urban "decline" or "resurgence" are inadequate for grasping the new challenges and complexities facing America's two major global cities. Each is responding in sometimes similar and different ways to the challenges brought on by two events that defined the last decade: the attack of 9/11 and its aftermath, and the continuing effects of the financial crisis. How all of these events, institutions, and trends play out in the New York and Los Angeles regions is important not only for the two cities, but also as a harbinger for other U.S. cities, the entire nation, and cities worldwide. New York and Los Angeles provides an essential guide for understanding the many forces that determine the future of our cities.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Introduction New York and Los Angeles: The Uncertain Future David Halle and Andrew A. Beveridge PART I: Overview Chapter 2. The Big Picture: Demographic and Other Changes Andrew Beveridge and Sydney Beveridge Chapter 3. The New York and Los Angeles Economies from Boom to Crisis David L. Gladstone and Susan S. Fainstein Chapter 4. America's Leading International Trade Centers and their Entrepreneurial Agencies: Challenges and Strategies in the New York and Los Angeles Regions Jameson W. Doig, Steven P. Erie and Scott A. MacKenzie PART II: Politics and Economics Chapter 5. New York City and Los Angeles: Government and Political Influence John Mollenkopf and Raphael J. Sonenshein Chapter 6. Financial and Economic Crisis and the Politics of Ongoing Dramas David Halle and Andrew Beveridge Chapter 7. New York City and Los Angeles: Taxes, Budgets and Managing the Financial Crisis George Sweeting and Andrea Dinneen PART III: Social and Urban Problems Chapter 8. Policing, Crime and Legitimacy in New York and Los Angeles: The Social and Political Contexts of Two Historic Crime Declines Jeffrey Fagan and John MacDonald Chapter 9. LA and New York Schools: Reform, Organization, and Disorganization Julia Wrigley Chapter 10. How New York and Los Angeles Housing Policies Are Different-and Maybe Why Ingrid Gould Ellen and Brendan O'Flaherty Chapter 11. Residential Diversity and Division: Separation and Segregation among Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Affluent, and Poor. Andrew Beveridge, David Halle, Eddie Telles, and Beth DuFault PART IV: Immigration and Ethnic Communities Chapter 12. New York and Los Angeles as Immigrant Destinations: Contrasts and Convergence Nancy Foner and Roger Waldinger Chapter 13. The Transformation of Chinese America: New York v. Los Angeles Min Zhou, Margaret M. Chin and Rebecca Kim PART V: Planning and Environmentalism Chapter 14. Planning L.A.: The Changing Politics of Neighborhood and Downtown Development Andrew Deener, Steven P. Erie, Vladimir Kogan, and Forrest Stuart Chapter 15. Environmental and Social Justice Movements and Policy Change in Los Angeles: Is an Inside-Outside Game Possible? Martha Matsuoka and Robert Gottlieb Chapter 16. A Land Ethic for the City of Water Kristen Van Hooreweghe, Steve Lang, and William Kornblum PART VI: Culture Chapter 17. In LA, You Know Where Architecture's At Rick Bell Chapter 18. New York, LA and Chicago as Depicted in Hit Movies. David Halle, Eric Vanstrom, Jan Reiff and Ted Nitschke Chapter 19. Nonprofit Organizations in New York City and Los Angeles: A Comparison Helmut K Anheier, David Howard, and Marcus Lam

About the Author :
David Halle is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also an adjunct professor at the City University of New York's Graduate Center and the author of America's Working Man: Work, Home, and Politics among Blue-Collar Property Owners and Inside Culture: Art and Class in the American Home Andrew A. Beveridge is Professor of Sociology at Queens College and the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York.

Review :
"All the chapters are coherent and well integrated with the book's overall goal. This fascinating tale of two cities makes a valuable contribution to comparative urban sociology, and the volume should serve as an important source book for students, scholars, and planners and policy makers interested in urban issues in the US." --CHOICE