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A review by duparker
Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State by Samuel Stein
3.0
2.5-3 Stars. On the plus side this is a highly readable and well researched book. I enjoyed the thoughtful breakdown of the history of planning and the background about disinvestment and investment. The cycles described are straight forwarded and clear.
What I didn't care for is the snark and lack of an alternative or solution. The book decries the current real estate model, and to a degree the market, but doesn't really offer much counter to it. Sure we could have a command system, but how realistic is that?
In many ways this feels like someone who couldn't get hired as a municipal planner. They went to become an academic and then complains that the practicing municipal planner doesn't do the right thing. They don't stand up, they don't push back, and they don't do what the academic wants. Ho hum.
What I didn't care for is the snark and lack of an alternative or solution. The book decries the current real estate model, and to a degree the market, but doesn't really offer much counter to it. Sure we could have a command system, but how realistic is that?
In many ways this feels like someone who couldn't get hired as a municipal planner. They went to become an academic and then complains that the practicing municipal planner doesn't do the right thing. They don't stand up, they don't push back, and they don't do what the academic wants. Ho hum.