Library
A Kind of Genius: Herb Sturz and Society’s Toughest Problems
We will discuss “A Kind of Genius,” a book about how one reformer in the 1960s and 1970s in New York was able to create change with little or no power and few resources. He did it with persuasion, people skills, political awareness and processes that not only found good solutions but built support along…
The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class—And What We Can Do About It
“The New Urban Crisis” is a book about growing inequality and isolation in cities and how greater social, educational and economic opportunity can and should be created. The author suggests ambitious reforms at the federal, state and local levels. Florida is an economics professor and author of a popular 2002 book, “The Rise of the…
Walk the Walk: How Three Police Chiefs Defied the Odds and Changed Cop Culture
“Walk the Walk” is a book about police reform and why it will fail if it does not address “cop culture,” which are the ways police officers view their work and their relations with others. It focuses on three police chiefs, including one in Georgia, who changed their departments’ culture and made other reforms. Gross…
Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It
“Arbitrary Lines” is about the damage done to cities and neighborhoods by zoning. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta:
Won’t Lose This Dream: How an Upstart Urban University Rewrote the Rules of a Broken System
“Won’t Lose This Dream” is a book about how a major public institution transformed itself. The institution: Georgia State University. We focused on what this book tells us about how institutional reform takes place. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta: