ABSTRACT
The subject of this chapter is as broad as it is important. My task is similar to that of presenting a lawyer’s brief, one that makes the case for the cities and their need to finance the costs of preserving what remains of civility and solidarity in urban America. In my argument, I first clarify the shift in mainstream urbanist thinking and national policymaking from what I call redistributive liberalism to neo-conservative reprivatization. Second, I present, in some detail, the data—the trends regarding fiscal stress and the changing role of the federal government—and relate these trends to larger developments in the national and international economy. I then introduce what I consider to be the major departure of the present study.
