Inside Game/Outside Game: Winning Strategies for Saving Urban America

"For the past three decades, the federal government has targeted the poorest areas of American cities with a succession of antipoverty initiatives, yet these urban neighborhoods continue to decline. According to David Rusk, focusing on programs aimed at improving inner-city neighborhoods--playing the ""inside game""--is a losing strategy. Achieving real improvement requires matching the ""inside game"" with a strong ""outside game"" of regional strategies to overcome growing fiscal disparities, concentrated poverty, and urban sprawl. In this persuasive book filled with personal observations as well as his trademark mastery of census statistics, Rusk argues that state legislatures must set new ""rules of the game."" He believes those rules require regional revenue or tax base sharing to reduce fiscal disparity, regional housing policies to ensure that all new developments have their fair share of low- and moderate-income housing to dissolve concentrations of poverty, and regional land-use planning and growth management to control urban sprawl. State government action, Rusk argues, is particularly crucial where regions are highly fragmented by many competing city, village, and township governments. He provides vivid success stories that demonstrate best practices for these regional strategies along with recommendations for building effective regional coalitions. A Century Foundation Book "

About the Author :
David Rusk is a former mayor of Albuquerque and member of the New Mexico legislature, and one of America's foremost champions of regional strategies. He is the author of Cities without Suburbs (1995).

Review :
"Rusk's strategies seek to improve inner-city neighborhoods and their residents by achieving a more equitable distribution of risks and benefits among cities and suburbs.... This book should be read by anyone who is seriously interested in our national urban dilemma. " —Urban Studies, Urban Studies |"A welcome antidote to the often flat commentary and policy recommendations of urban revitalization literature.... An important book that should frame a continuing and deeper analysis of places where rules of the game are changing. " —Shelterforce, Shelterforce |"...is an important book that should frame a continuing and deeper analysis of places where the rules of the game are changing. " —Roland V. Anglin, board member, National Housing Institute, National Housing Institute |"Provides policymakers and students of urban politics and planning with a well-researched, well-written, and persuasive argument for the merits of regional policy strategies to addressing the most serious problems of metropolitan areas.... Offer[s] policymakers and students an extremely useful overview of metropolitan sprawl, its consequences, and of promising regional policy strategies to address them." —Scott J. Spitzer, Seton Hall University, Publius, 10/1/2001 |"...this book should be read by anyone who is seriously interested in our national urban dilemma. " —Michael Greenberg, Rutgers University |"Harnessing America's powerfully successful metropolitan engines of prosperity in order to create a wide base of better jobs, stronger schools, and more hope for people constitutes our best hope for bringing our nation together. David Rusk understands that and convincingly tells us how we can do it. " —Henry G. Cisneros, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. |"In this work, David Rusk combines practical knowledge as mayor with carefully detailed analysis. Inside Game/Outside game provides a much needed battle plan in the fight for livable communities. " —Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), U.S. House of Representatives