Rodriquez does not pull punches about practices and attitudes that reinforced racial segregation and inequality. . . .Rodriguez raises important questions and avoids facile solutions. . . .I found this book refreshingly honest and fair. Rodriquez acknowledges success stories without boosterism. As the city and county grapple with diminished budgets and recurring challenges, it can be helpful to place those issues within a historical context.

The Bay View Compass

As city leaders across the country embrace various forms of new urbanism, Joseph A. Rodriguez provides a compelling historical lesson. Urban development that emphasizes self-help and ignores the structural problems of poverty, racial segregation, and growing inequality is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the nation's urban past.

Robert Self, Brown University

Bootstrap New Urbanism presents a provocative idea that revives key elements of growth machine theory and reinforces a regionalist critique of neoliberal urban policy efforts. The book shows how policymakers can avoid taking responsibility for urban issues by adopting popular design trends. Thus, community-based solutions are transformed into a "self-help" regime, which in turn comes very close to blaming the victim. Furthermore, Joseph A. Rodriguez make insightful observations about the unanticipated risks of promoting entertainment as a force for urban revitalization, particularly in relation to alcohol.

Aaron Passell, Furman University

Joseph A. Rodriquez offers an astute analysis of the limits of localized revitalization, whether based in grass-roots community activism or civic boosterism by elites. In a world dominated by the self-help discourse, this is a brave position well worth considering.

Emily Talen, Arizona State University