A special issue of Cityscape
brings together 10 essays by former HUD Secretary Henry G. Cisneros -- including
5 that are newly published -- that provide a unique and thoughtful perspective
on critical urban issues. Recognizing that "Washington cannot pay for everything,
should not regulate everything, and must not mandate everything," former Secretary
Cisneros looks beyond the limits of Federal policy to explore ways that communities
can mobilize all of their physical, institutional, economic, and human resources
to meet the challenges before them.
Several of the new essays, like their predecessors, highlight the value of often overlooked community assets. Preserving Everybody's History explains how historic preservation efforts -- often viewed as barriers to economic development -- can produce win-win outcomes that preserve the historical integrity of communities while revitalizing inner-city economies.
In Urban Land and the Urban Prospect, the former Secretary warns that spatial inefficiencies spurred by rapid suburban expansion detract from regional economic health. He discusses the prospects for creative use of vacant urban land to promote greater metropolitan efficiency.
Community Colleges and Urban Development is the second Cisneros essay to point to the potential of educational institutions as partners in urban economic development. Although many community colleges operate on a shoestring and face increasing demands, they occupy a pivotal position by enrolling a high proportion of low-income youth and legal immigrants and playing a key role in retraining the workforce. Cisneros discusses a variety of ways in which community colleges can gain the resources they
need to become more directly engaged in urban revitalization.
Fathers and Families: Changing the Rules focuses on the basic building block of every community: the family. This essay highlights two HUD-sponsored pilot programs in Baltimore and Hartford that are combining housing benefits and job opportunities to encourage family unification.
Searching For Home: Mentally Ill Homeless People in America addresses one of the most difficult issues facing urban communities today: how to deal humanely and effectively with the tragedy of mentally ill persons who live on their streets. The essay lays out an agenda based on the Continuum of Care approach to improve the range and coordination of services available to the mentally ill homeless.
Other essays in this issue focus on innovative solutions to urban problems that have been implemented around the country, sometimes against tough political odds. Promising strategies include public housing design based on defensible space principles, the use of comparative advantage to attract economic development, and options for regional governance.
These essays offer thoughtful analyses and practical proposals for dealing with some of the thorniest questions confronting urban communities. This latest issue of Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research is now available from HUD USER for $5.
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