Shared Prosperity in America's Communities: (The City in the Twenty-First Century)

While the nation's GDP has doubled in the last thirty years, significant increases in family income have been restricted to a small subset of the American population. This disjunct between national economic growth and stagnating incomes in all but the very top tier of the population corresponds with increasing economic inequality and a lack of social and economic mobility. As a consequence, neighborhoods and metropolitan areas have become more polarized. Stark geographic differences in levels of poverty, income, health outcomes, job opportunities, lifetime earning potential, and educational attainment highlight the degree to which place matters in terms of social and economic opportunity. Shared Prosperity in America's Communities examines this place-based disparity of opportunity and suggests what can be done to ensure that the benefits of economic growth are widely shared. Contributors' essays explore social and economic mobility throughout the country to illuminate the changing geography of inequality, offer a portfolio of strategies to address the challenges of place-based inequality, and show how communities across the nation are implementing change and building a future of shared prosperity. Approaching the problem from the vantage point of economics, sociology, and public policy, Shared Prosperity in America's Communities offers a timely analysis of the country's growing socioeconomic and geographic division and shows how communities can respond to the challenge of economic inequality to build a nation of opportunity for all. Contributors: J. Cameron Anglum, Timothy J. Bartik, Chris Benner, Angela Glover Blackwell, Anthony P. Carnevale, Raj Chetty, Rebecca Diamond, Lei Ding, Paul A. Jargowsky, David N. Karp, Elizabeth Kneebone, Douglas S. Massey, Jeremy Nowak, Manuel Pastor, Victor Rubin, Chris Schildt, Nicole Smith, Margery Austin Turner, Susan M. Wachter, Zachary D. Wood.

Table of Contents:
Introduction PART I. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY IN AMERICA'S COMMUNITIES Chapter 1. Socioeconomic Mobility in the United States: New Evidence and Policy Lessons -Raj Chetty Chapter 2. Neighborhoods and Segregation -Paul A. Jargowsky Chapter 3. The Changing Geography of Disadvantage -Elizabeth Kneebone Chapter 4. U.S. Workers' Diverging Locations: Causes and Inequality Consequences -Rebecca Diamond PART II. HOW TO ENCOURAGE GROWTH AND EXPAND OPPORTUNITY Chapter 5. Building Shared Prosperity Through Place-Conscious Strategies That Reweave the Goals of Fair Housing and Community Development -Margery Austin Turner Chapter 6. Confronting the Legacy of American Apartheid -Douglas S. Massey Chapter 7. Expanding Educational Opportunity in Urban School Districts -Paul A. Jargowsky, Zachary D. Wood, J. Cameron Anglum, and David N. Karp Chapter 8. Preparing Today's Youth for Tomorrow's Jobs -Anthony P. Carnevale and Nicole Smith Chapter 9. Labor-Demand-Side Economic Development Incentives and Urban Opportunity -Timothy J. Bartik PART III. SHARED PROSPERITY: PERSPECTIVES ON EQUITABLE AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH Chapter 10. Equitable and Inclusive Growth Strategies for American Cities -Victor Rubin, Angela Glover Blackwell, and Chris Schildt Chapter 11. The Fragility of Growth in a Post-Industrial City -Jeremy Nowak Chapter 12. Fostering an Inclusive Metropolis: Equity, Growth, and Community -Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor Notes References List of Contributors Index Acknowledgments

About the Author :
Susan M. Wachter is the Albert Sussman Professor of Real Estate and Professor of Finance, The Wharton School; Professor of City and Regional Planning, School of Design; and Co-Director, Penn Institute for Urban Research, at the University of Pennsylvania. Lei Ding is Community Development Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Review :
"While income inequality has received much attention from scholars and the media, the profound impact of geography on inequality has not been explored deeply. This volume brings together an impressive collection of essays that create a nuanced map of inequality in America and point toward solutions." (Raphael Bostic, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California) "Missing in the national dialogue about income equality is the role that cities have traditionally fulfilled as building blocks for opportunity and indeed must fulfill going forward. Susan Wachter and Lei Ding have assembled a group of respected scholars who advance important ideas about how schools, cities, and metropolitan areas can strengthen our national quest for social and economic progress." (Henry Cisneros, City View) "An important contribution to the conversation about urban inequality. The essays collected by Susan M. Wachter and Lei Ding tackle issues such as intergenerational mobility, racial and socioeconomic segregation, active labor market policy, and strategic urban renewal efforts with balance and rigor." (Steven Raphael, University of California, Berkeley) "Wachter and Ding have assembled a dazzling collection of contributors to explore the intersection of inequality and place. This volume makes clear that policy cannot ignore geography-the future of opportunity in America begins at the neighborhood level. I encourage scholars, policymakers, and the interested public worried about increasing inequality to take advantage of the many insights this collection offers." (Sarah Rosen Wartell, The Urban Institute) "The country is riven by social and economic inequality. This book explains why mending this rift must take place community by community and provides the research and analysis to make this happen." (Marc Morial, National Urban League)