The case studies and suggested strategies in this book appear at an opportune time. As America struggles with how best to stimulate a troubled economy, rebuild old infrastructure, and improve troubled inner city neighborhoods, Kromer's illuminating case studies and advice garnered from years of experience working in some of the nation's neediest areas are a welcome addition to the literature.
-Richard LeGates, San Francisco State University
Reinvestment in our central cities is critical to the health and prosperity of our metropolitan areas and our country. Drawing from the author's own experience, Fixing Broken Cities provides inspiration and practical guidance to community leaders as they struggle to meet the challenges of urban redevelopment. Given the current economic crisis and the new direction in urban policy from the Obama Administration, this book is a must read.
-Parris N. Glendening, President, Smart Growth Leadership Institute and former Governor of Maryland (1995-2003)
John Kromer shows that after decades of decline cities can come back with the right combination of reinvention and reinvestment.
-Paul S. Grogan, President & CEO, The Boston Foundation
John Kromer's medley of memoir, practical tips, case studies, and honest reflections will be of value to anyone striving to transform older American cities.
-Paul C. Brophy, Principal, Brophy & Reilly
Kromer's work in cities has shaped this exciting blueprint for action in the post-industrial city. The book is a must-read for both urban policy-makers and students of the city.
-John Pelissero, Loyola University Chicago
Kromer draws from decades of in-the-trenches experience implementing development strategies in cities in this readable book. With the storyteller's gift of bringing out detail and developing characters, plot, and meaning, Fixing Broken Cities explores diverse perspectives on tax abatement and eminent domain, among other approaches, and shows how they have been used to transform older, declining cities. I recommend this book for experienced developers to broaden their horizons and provoke thought as well as for students and scholars who are looking for a lucid, realistic primer on the arcane tools of development.
-Beth Walter Honadle, University of Cincinnati
[Fixing Broken Cities is] a fascinating read and a cogent insider's view of the day-to-day and policymaking activities of urban development strategies. Overall, this book is a tour de force about planning efforts and their impact in postindustrial urban downtowns and residential communities. . . . I recommend this book highly to anyone looking for a way to navigate our older, struggling cities into a brighter urban future.
-L. Nicolas Ronderos, Regional Plan Association
Students and practitioners of urban planning and economics would find this useful. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections. - W. C. Johnson, CHOICE (March 2010)
'Fixing Broken Cities is in some ways a nostalgic walk through urban redevelopment in the dying days of the Great Society and the rise of the Reagan Revolution. It has a certain mothball fragrance for those who worked in the field at that time. On the other hand, it is an informative overview of how these programmes interacted with politics and economics.' - James M. McCarthy, International Planning Studies, April 2012
