Alexander von Hoffman is a senior research fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and he teaches at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. He has written for The Boston Globe, the Atlantic Monthly, and The New York Times and is the author of Local Attachments: The Making of an American Urban Neighborhood.
"Contains eternal truths for reformers in any major American
city."--The Baltimore Sun
"Deserves to be read by everyone concerned with the fate of
America's cities."--Publishers Weekly
"The chapter on New York is superb: I was there, and the
revitalization occurred just as von Hoffman describes."--Edward I.
Koch, former mayor of New York City
"Von Hoffman's lucid narrative, with its colorful activists,
Machiavellian politicians and inspiring struggles, brings this
potentially mind-numbing subject to life. This book deserves to be
read by everyone concerned with the fate of America's
cities."--Publishers Weekly
"An upbeat book about the contemporary state of inner cities in the
United States sounds like an oxymoron. But Alexander von Hoffman
has written such a book. It is persuasive and educational as well
as counterintuitive.... Von Hoffman's narrative contains eternal
truths for reformers in any major American city. With von Hoffman's
proof that individuals can make a significant difference, he
promotes realistic hope."--The Baltimore Sun
"It all started on Charlotte Street in the Bronx. Presidents Carter
and Reagan stood on that street and both compared the area to
bombed-out London and Berlin. House by House, Block by Block
recounts how New York City rebuilt the South Bronx and large parts
of Brooklyn and Harlem, and how other cities have transformed their
own troubled neighborhoods. I marveled at the accuracy and intimacy
of the reporting. The chapter on New York is superb: I was
there, and the revitalization occurred just as von Hoffman
describes."--Edward I. Koch, former mayor of New York City
"This is the most hopeful book on the American inner city to appear
in decades. Von Hoffman's surprising optimism rests on an
impressive base of new research and data. But most importantly, he
has gone beyond theories and statistics to the neighborhoods
themselves to tell the dramatic story of how an unexpected
coalition of community activists, foundations, planners,
politicians, and business leaders have defied immense difficulties
to begin rebuilding
America's inner cities 'house by house, block by block'." --Robert
Fishman, author of Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of
Suburbia, and Professor of History, Taubman College of Architecture
and Planning,
University of Michigan
"This book arrives at the perfect time, just as faith in the
American city is being renewed and governments and foundations are
trumpeting the rebirth of the metropolis. Von Hoffman's research
reminds us of a valuable lesson: it is the tireless work of those
unsung heroes at the grassroots--residents, community builders,
block club leaders and the like--who will ultimately determine
whether our policies and prescriptions work or fail. House by
House, Block
by Block is required reading, for both participants in and
observers of the revitalizing of the American city."--Sudhir
Venkatesh, author of American Project: the Rise and Fall of a
Modern Ghetto, and
Associate Professor of Sociology, Columbia University
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