Great American City

Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect

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  • This
  • “landmark
  • work
  • in
  • urban
  • sociology”
  • examines
  • the
  • influence
  • of
  • neighborhoods
  • on
  • social
  • phenomena
  • and
  • in
  • our
  • lives
  • (Claude
  • Fischer,
  • City
  • &
  • Community).For
  • over
  • fifty
  • years
  • numerous
  • public
  • intellectuals
  • and
  • social
  • theorists
  • have
  • insisted
  • that
  • community
  • is
  • dead.
  • Some
  • would
  • have
  • us
  • believe
  • that
  • we
  • act
  • solely
  • as
  • individuals
  • choosing
  • our
  • own
  • fates
  • regardless
  • of
  • our
  • surroundings,
  • while
  • other
  • theories
  • place
  • us
  • at
  • the
  • mercy
  • of
  • global
  • forces
  • beyond
  • our
  • control.
  • These
  • two
  • perspectives
  • dominate
  • contemporary
  • views
  • of
  • society,
  • but
  • by
  • rejecting
  • the
  • importance
  • of
  • place
  • they
  • are
  • both
  • deeply
  • flawed.
  • Based
  • on
  • one
  • of
  • the
  • most
  • ambitious
  • studies
  • in
  • the
  • history
  • of
  • social
  • science,
  • Great
  • American
  • City
  • argues
  • that
  • communities
  • still
  • matter
  • because
  • life
  • is
  • decisively
  • shaped
  • by
  • where
  • you
  • live.To
  • demonstrate
  • the
  • powerfully
  • enduring
  • impact
  • of
  • place,
  • Robert
  • J.
  • Sampson
  • presents
  • here
  • the
  • fruits
  • of
  • over
  • a
  • decade’s
  • research
  • in
  • Chicago
  • combined
  • with
  • his
  • own
  • unique
  • personal
  • observations
  • about
  • life
  • in
  • the
  • city,
  • from
  • Cabrini
  • Green
  • to
  • Trump
  • Tower
  • and
  • Millennium
  • Park
  • to
  • the
  • Robert
  • Taylor
  • Homes.
  • He
  • discovers
  • that
  • neighborhoods
  • influence
  • a
  • remarkably
  • wide
  • variety
  • of
  • social
  • phenomena,
  • including
  • crime,
  • health,
  • civic
  • engagement,
  • home
  • foreclosures,
  • teen
  • births,
  • altruism,
  • leadership
  • networks,
  • and
  • immigration.
  • Even
  • national
  • crises
  • cannot
  • halt
  • the
  • impact
  • of
  • place,
  • Sampson
  • finds,
  • as
  • he
  • analyzes
  • the
  • consequences
  • of
  • the
  • Great
  • Recession
  • and
  • its
  • aftermath,
  • bringing
  • his
  • magisterial
  • study
  • up
  • to
  • the
  • fall
  • of
  • 2010.Following
  • in
  • the
  • influential
  • tradition
  • of
  • the
  • Chicago
  • School
  • of
  • urban
  • studies
  • but
  • updated
  • for
  • the
  • twenty-first
  • century,
  • Great
  • American
  • City
  • is
  • at
  • once
  • a
  • landmark
  • research
  • project,
  • a
  • commanding
  • argument
  • for
  • a
  • new
  • theory
  • of
  • social
  • life,
  • and
  • the
  • story
  • of
  • an
  • iconic
  • city.Praise
  • for
  • Great
  • American
  • City“After
  • Great
  • American
  • City
  • we
  • will
  • never
  • be
  • able
  • to
  • view
  • cities
  • in
  • the
  • same
  • way
  • again.
  • This
  • is
  • one
  • of
  • those
  • rare
  • books
  • that
  • deeply
  • affect
  • how
  • we
  • think
  • about
  • the
  • world.
  • It
  • teaches
  • us
  • afresh
  • how
  • the
  • neighborhoods
  • we
  • live
  • in
  • affect
  • us
  • and
  • the
  • people
  • around
  • us.
  • And
  • there
  • are
  • also
  • immense
  • policy
  • implications.
  • Robert
  • Sampson
  • shows
  • definitively
  • how
  • the
  • fate
  • of
  • the
  • urban
  • poor
  • is
  • so
  • very
  • dependent
  • on
  • the
  • communities
  • in
  • which
  • they
  • live.”
  • —George
  • Akerlof,
  • Nobel
  • Laureate
  • in
  • Economics,
  • University
  • of
  • California
  • at
  • Berkeley“Great
  • American
  • City
  • takes
  • us
  • from
  • the
  • grand
  • theories
  • conjured
  • by
  • its
  • commanding
  • title,
  • down
  • to
  • the
  • iconic
  • street
  • corner
  • to
  • see
  • what
  • it
  • really
  • means
  • when
  • windows
  • are
  • broken.
  • This
  • is
  • a
  • book
  • of
  • big,
  • challenging,
  • provocative,
  • and
  • inspiring
  • ideas,
  • as
  • well
  • as
  • of
  • meticulous,
  • rigorous,
  • and
  • exhaustive
  • data.
  • Sampson
  • has
  • truly
  • shown
  • his
  • shoulders
  • big
  • enough
  • to
  • be
  • counted
  • among
  • Chicago’s
  • most
  • venerated
  • social
  • observers,
  • as
  • well
  • as
  • the
  • most
  • astute
  • theorists
  • of
  • place.”
  • —Mary
  • Pattillo,
  • Northwestern University
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