The Next American City: The Big Promise of Our Midsize Metros

by Mick Cornett, Jayson White

From four-term Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, a hopeful and illuminating look at the dynamic and inventive urban centers that will lead the United States in coming years.

Oklahoma City. Indianapolis. Charleston. Des Moines. What do these cities have in common? They are cities of modest size but outsized accomplishment, powered by a can-do spirit, valuing compromise over confrontation and progress over political victory. These are the cities leading America . . . and they're not waiting for Washington's help.

As mayor of one of America's most improved cities, Cornett used a bold, creative, and personal approach to orchestrate his city's renaissance. Once regarded as a forgettable city in "flyover country," Oklahoma City has become one of our nation's most dynamic places-and it is not alone. In this book, Cornett translates his city's success-and the success of cities like his-into a vision for the future of our country.

The Next American City  is a story of civic engagement, inventive public policy, and smart urban design. It is a study of the changes re-shaping American urban life-and a blueprint for those to come.

Genres: Nonfiction, Urban Planning, Cities, Audiobook, History, Politics

272 pages, Hardcover

Published September 25, 2018

Reviews

[Ron S · Rating 2 out of 5]

An extremely boosterish look at OKC's renaissance of recent years by the four time mayor, who also looks at initiatives and programs undertaken by other mid-sized U.S. cities in recent years. Serves as a reminder that Republicans and Democrats should listen to each other and work together for the common good, not just their party. It's somewhat astonishing that there have been two books on Oklahoma City published this year by the largest publisher in the world; for those that want a different take on Oklahoma City, read Sam Anderson's excellent "Boom Town" after this. Besides being much less relentlessly optimistic, Anderson's book offers a longer historical take on a fascinating city, culture and state.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping this would be more data-driven and useful for my line of work (real estate investing), but was an analogy-driven pat-on-the-back for Republican mayors of small American cities.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Promising premise but suuuuuuper boring delivery. The book ended up being mostly about sports and Oklahoma City (which I guess makes sense in retrospect, given the author's career as a sportscaster and okc mayor). But picking up this book at the library with no prior knowledge, I hoped it would be more broadly about the strength of midsize cities nationwide. Essentially no data-driven analysis, a lot of flawed republican ideology, but a nice little showcase of okc's increasingly awesome vibe.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best chapters are mostly about Oklahoma City; much of the rest of the book is far too vague about what was done right and how well it worked.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to via Libby app. If you're interested in cities and urbanism start around Chapter 8, otherwise you have to wade through the wide world of sports. I kept waiting for the author to tell me why sports is the promise of the next American city and all I could gather was it contributes to a city's vibe and reputation. Sports can help attract new businesses looking to relocate to your town. But as a follower of Strong Towns thinking this book fell flat. It was full of example after example of swinging for home runs when base hits could be the better strategy.

[Maksym · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lacked substantive content. Scratched the surface on all topics. General idea; Go and do! Personally hoping for deep dives on other small cities. Arkansas and Iowa features were nice others left you wanting much more.

[Linor David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't have high hopes for this book about Republicans and city building, but I thought there might be a few interesting ideas inside. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and I think the reason it kept me reading was because Mick Cornett loves Oklahoma City so much and also that he is a funny guy, and so the book kind of pops along. If you like urban planning this book is a great rags to riches tale of city transformation. From a "river" that was a actually a dry ditch- that became a real river with world class boating facilities- the book is filled with stories of transformations.
As someone who lives in Toronto, where each new mayor just tosses out any transit plan of the past mayors, making it so things have a really hard time getting done- one of the things that shocked me was how each successive mayor built on the other ones work. I'm sure there were other stories too- but it seems like that is how OKC works.
On the flip side, the authors include stories of other small cities in the book- I could have done without them, I felt like they broke up the momentum of the OKC story.
Also- this book does not come at city building with an equity lens. Cornett obviously cares deeply for the people in his city and wants everyone to be healthier and have good schools and economic opportunities, and he frames this as mainly class issues- but doesn't say much about new immigrants or African Americans or women or Queer folks. He does talk about Native Americans, in the founding of OKC, which is a horrible story of the land grab. He mentions that they are still coming to terms with damages done- but there is no way in which the work he does tries to reconcile that... and I think it's a problem to have that as your founding story and not critique it.
So- if you want a little inspiration that things can change- this book is a quick, humorous, and interesting look at how OKC invested in itself(yup taxes), dreamed big, rebuilt its downtown and turned the city around.

[Amanda Linehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! I actually took notes to re-read later because I loved some of the key points about building vibrant cities. I loved learning about a place I've never visited, Oklahoma City, and hearing from a more conservative politician about the fairly progressive policies he's put into place -- raising taxes, investing in density and downtowns, promoting biking and walking over driving -- in a tax-averse, Republican-majority city. I learned a lot and felt inspired even with all the obstacles we are facing to make similar changes where I live.

[Nick Fishburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly fascinating for anyone curious about stepping into a local political ring. I wasn’t personally gripped by the writing style, but there were some interesting anecdotes throughout. Solid read

[Dalton T. Teel · Rating 4 out of 5]

At a time when Republicans & Democrats seem more against each other than ever, I really appreciated Cornett’s ability to show that there are decent people on all sides that just see different ways to find the solution. This book also really fueled my interest & passion for the power of local government & the profound impact it can have on people’s lives.

[Andrew Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 too vague on other cities. However, has great perspective on the purpose of local governments to promote prosperity and economic growth

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book offered only surface level anecdotes and lacked any real analysis or in-depth knowledge on the topic of small to mid-sized cities and 21st century challenges. The author also inserted unnecessary partisanship into the book in what felt like an attempt to align urban success with conservative policies and the Republican Party, while also stroking his ego.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried to like this book, but it was a slog. It wasn't organized well: the narrative kept coming back around to the famous bombing, but without always making a relevant point about how it impacted the city. Chronological order for the author's career or the city's history might've made sense, but that wasn't consistent either. Strangest of all, the book ended with an overly detailed recap of the author's pre-political career as a sportscaster.

I tried to evaluate the book mostly independent of the author's political slant but it's difficult. I can understand why he wouldn't want to address Trumpism, but there were other issues too. He discusses 20th century suburbanization as if it were an emergent phenomenon that just reflects Americans' love of large spaces, rather than the centrally engineered segregation it was. He briefly mentions the positive impact that walking and biking as transportation can have on one's health, but instead of exploring that angle of urbanism, he talks a lot about "putting his city on a diet" because that's what garnered him fame and praise. I think the oddest part is that he did make a few comments here and there about how the US used to be less inclusive or that indigenous people were mistreated (always in the past tense, I think) but glosses over these topics. I'm not sure if that's par for the course in contemporary Republican talking points.

I still think it would be really interesting to hear about urbanism from a principled conservative point of view. There's plenty to criticize about long-delayed infrastructure projects with cost overruns, or to celebrate about how activated streets are good for growing business and for building community. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I got that from this book.

[Russell Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cornett's story of his 14 years as the mayor of Oklahoma City, and what he feels like he was able to accomplish during that time, is pretty much unrelenting optimism and boosterism all the way through--but a lot of what he says does make good sense. It is undeniable that, for example, if a city is going to commit itself to playing the growth game and investing in itself so as to level up in terms of its peer cities, then the MAPS projects of OKC--paid for by sales taxes, with no bonds or debt, however long it was going to take--are the right way to do it. And I like what he has to say about a city's image of itself, and how different individuals (and not simply the usual cast of civic leaders) need to be attended to, since they may have the insight necessary to re-interpret a city's spirit in a productive way. But ultimately, as entertainingly as Cornett tells the story of his own journey and sets of comparisons to other cities, you can't get around the fact the OKC was already a major American urban center in everything except name in the early 2000s, and already had a host of wealthy corporations who were ready and willing to help OKC land an NBA franchise and otherwise do whatever sorts of things were necessary to make OKC "culturally relevant," which for Cornett mostly means wooing and winning over those big league capitalists that could get OKC on ESPN. Which they did! So it's a success story, though whether it actually has much to teach other "midsized metros" is, to my mind, doubtful.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim knowing nothing about it but hoping it would contain some very forward thinking ideas about American urbanization in the face of all the problems we see coming up the road. It disappointed me because it was more pedestrian than that. Cornett uses this book to pinpoint observations he's made that have contributed to growing, revitalized, or just generally successful cities/towns, but they are hardly revolutionary. Develop civic pride, invest in the city's future in various ways. Build a brand. Ironically, almost all of the cities he used as examples of strong brands evoked nothing for me. The most puzzling piece of his plan involved companies with strong ties to the city that voluntarily choose to invest in the region. I'm not sure how any mayor plans for that, or depends on it either, as CEOs, boards, visions, and economies change. I wanted to like this book, but everything was too vague. Details of success stories were frequently glossed over, with Cornett literally writing that he didn't want to get into the details. For each example of how Oklahoma City has succeeded in the face of one of his identified goals, he cites another city with a similar story, but almost never goes into cities with similar stories that ended in failure. It's a pretty light-weight book, and I was left wanting so much more.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone new to urbanism I thought this was an interesting book.

But as an NBA and basketball fan I am aware of how much Mr. Cornett glossed over the drama regarding the Thunder. That makes me question how many other stories included in this book are made to look better than real life. That is the main reason I knocked this book down a couple of stars.

For more context, this is an article that talks about a number of shady things that one of the Thunder’s former owners did while he was CEO of Chesapeake Energy.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles...

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I went in looking for tips on urban planning, and there were a few, but this was so heavily a campaign book that it was like digging through personal stories to get to little nuggets of actual interest. I liked some of his tips - how to get Republicans to raise taxes for public infrastructure projects, revitalizing downtowns, but yeah there was a lot of personal histories of figures in the Oklahoma City political scene to wade through, primarily as relating to the author.

[Youn Song · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author sets out to explore the rise of mid-size American cities and is very optimistic about the growth prospects of these suburban cities. Was looking forward to learning about the author’s experiences/insights that he gained during his 4-year tenure as mayor of OKC. However, the information regarding the other cities is quite limited, and the author offers very little analysis. Would have been better if the author focused exclusively on OKC.

[Du · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting history and anecdotes about how Oklahoma city had managed to turn itself around through tax incentives on business and public improvement ventures. There are some good analogies to other communities and some conversational chapters and elements that work really well. Nothing hard hitting or academic.

[Brendan Rigney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book listed great examples of urban success in small and mid-sized metros, but the actual content feels half-baked. Lots of "look at this success story" without much explanation in examples outside if OKC.

Truly felt more like a promo book for Mayor Cornett's candidacy for OK governor that year than an actual celebration of anything.

[Joshua Horvath · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad book at all, but not great either. Among the things I liked, I appreciated its upbeat and hopeful attitude on the topic of urban renewal for mid-sized American cities, as well as the at least superficial attempt to be non-partisan. However, I feel like the book is a little lacking in depth and serves primarily to promote the author’s political career.

[Idena Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring story about a mid-sized city finding creative ways to move away from the mid-century sprawl and poverty from previous generations of planners and some hard luck in OK. The downtown river and walkable neighborhoods sound sublime and the sports and arts arenas have been nicely profitable! I was very glad to learn that some leaders in my city have read the same book.

[Lisa Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

A breezy and inspiring look at how a number of mid-sized cities went from rock-bottom to vibrant mostly without any help from the federal government. It is heartening to know even the most forlorn cities can make a comeback.

[Richard Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Great insight into the challenges and opportunities of cities. The suggested actions are straight forward and practical! It does a good job of describing the important role of effective government and its limitations

[jerry bickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have lived in OKC for years you’ll really appreciate Mick’s accounting of our unique story and the renaissance the city has gone through over the past 25 years and three MAPS projects. MIck and Jayson put in a lot of work to put this together. Highly recommend.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd never considered the role of local government until I read this book. It offered a vague but good introduction to both the role of local government and some fundamental republican ideas about managing growth and development.

[Mark Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid read if you are into urban planning/urban policy. I learned a lot about the history of some mid-size cities. I know I I don’t ideologically align with the author, but I thought he made some interesting points about the potential for a high quality of life in a mid-sized city.

[Seth Dickinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ideas were refreshing and good to learn about. I loved seeing the partisanship go away on a local level to do good work for people. However, the book seemed to repeat in many places and found myself distracted in some areas.

[Kris Yancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book on the ways to improve smaller US towns

[Chris Trew · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I gotta say is Yas Queen