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Thanks for Everything (Now Get Out): Can We Restore Neighborhoods without Destroying Them?
A radical rethinking of how to make distressed urban neighborhoods more livable while preserving the residents’ ability to live there
“With piercing insights, Joe Margulies compellingly traces the history of one neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, a stand-in for distressed neighborhoods around the country. This utterly original book takes on many of our assumptions about race, poverty, and gentrification— and tackles the toughest question of In restoring these places, do we set them up for destruction?”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of An American Summer
When a distressed urban neighborhood gentrifies, all the ratios poor to rich; Black and Brown to white; unskilled to professional; vulnerable to secure. Vacant lots and toxic dumps become condos and parks. Upscale restaurants open and pawn shops close. But the low-income residents who held on when the neighborhood was at its worst, who worked so hard to make it better, are gradually driven out. For them, the neighborhood hasn’t been restored so much as destroyed.
Tracing the history of Olneyville, a neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, that has traveled the long arc from urban decay to the cusp of gentrification, Joseph Margulies asks the most important question facing cities Can we restore distressed neighborhoods without setting the stage for their destruction? Is failure the inevitable cost of success? Based on years of interviews and on-the-ground observation, Margulies argues that to save Olneyville and thousands of neighborhoods like it, we need to empower low-income residents by giving them ownership and control of neighborhood assets. His model for a new form of neighborhood organization—the “neighborhood trust”—is already gaining traction nationwide and promises to give the poor what they have never had in this the power to control their future.
“With piercing insights, Joe Margulies compellingly traces the history of one neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, a stand-in for distressed neighborhoods around the country. This utterly original book takes on many of our assumptions about race, poverty, and gentrification— and tackles the toughest question of In restoring these places, do we set them up for destruction?”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of An American Summer
When a distressed urban neighborhood gentrifies, all the ratios poor to rich; Black and Brown to white; unskilled to professional; vulnerable to secure. Vacant lots and toxic dumps become condos and parks. Upscale restaurants open and pawn shops close. But the low-income residents who held on when the neighborhood was at its worst, who worked so hard to make it better, are gradually driven out. For them, the neighborhood hasn’t been restored so much as destroyed.
Tracing the history of Olneyville, a neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, that has traveled the long arc from urban decay to the cusp of gentrification, Joseph Margulies asks the most important question facing cities Can we restore distressed neighborhoods without setting the stage for their destruction? Is failure the inevitable cost of success? Based on years of interviews and on-the-ground observation, Margulies argues that to save Olneyville and thousands of neighborhoods like it, we need to empower low-income residents by giving them ownership and control of neighborhood assets. His model for a new form of neighborhood organization—the “neighborhood trust”—is already gaining traction nationwide and promises to give the poor what they have never had in this the power to control their future.
- GenresNonfictionUrban Planning
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 19, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 25, 2024
This is an important, well-written, accessible and critical book which seems to have flown a bit under the radar, which is an absolute shame. One of the things we need to really focus on going forward is thinking of ways to find alternative systems, rather than figuring out ways to retrofit half-baked adjustments into existing systems which are fundamentally broken.
In Margulies' paraphrased words, the patchwork system of nonprofits, government and quasi-governmental systems which control development and investment in most "low income" communities these days seem more interested in trying to make it easier for people to survive (not thrive) in the neoliberal system we've built for others -- rather than finding other ways of living and thinking that could fundamentally lead to better outcomes for more people.
For Margulies, the most readily apparent alternative is a massive expansion of community land trusts. I'm not an expert in this realm, but it seems reasonable enough to me, and for what little I know, I know they work at least in small scales. I think this is a strong, compassionate argument and an excellent contribution.
In Margulies' paraphrased words, the patchwork system of nonprofits, government and quasi-governmental systems which control development and investment in most "low income" communities these days seem more interested in trying to make it easier for people to survive (not thrive) in the neoliberal system we've built for others -- rather than finding other ways of living and thinking that could fundamentally lead to better outcomes for more people.
For Margulies, the most readily apparent alternative is a massive expansion of community land trusts. I'm not an expert in this realm, but it seems reasonable enough to me, and for what little I know, I know they work at least in small scales. I think this is a strong, compassionate argument and an excellent contribution.
September 30, 2024
The author is law professor at Cornell. He was the lead counsel in the case that established that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay had right to judicial review. He's a sharp guy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_...
This book looks at the issue of gentrification, and how neighborhoods can improve, without their residents being displaced. It's a real problem - how are people supposed to work to make their communities better, more livable, if by doing so they end up making it attractive to people to move in who will quickly price them out of their own homes?
He uses Olneyville, a predominately Latino neighborhood on the western edge of Providence Rhode Island as his case study. This is a community that is on the verge of gentrification. And as we are living in a "Back to the City" era, after years of suburbanization, it's an important question.
You get a history of the neighborhood and a look at some of the personalities in the community. He's done years' worth of research in the community.
You get a look inside the local elementary school and a long discussion on the role of a school as a community anchor and why test scores don't always tell the full picture. He gives a history of policing in Providence, and how it was turned around from one of the most problematic departments in the nation to one focused on policing that asked "if I lived in this neighborhood, how would I work to make it more livable." He talks about some of the benefactors for the community, such as that resulted in the rehabilitation of the community, and how hard it is that the expertise and funds are all coming from outside in, and that local people don't end up with a lot of say in what is happening around them.
He lays the blame largely on neo-liberalism and the idea that economic forces are the only ones that matter -and that if you can't win in a "free market" you deserve to lose. But this idea, so entrenched since the 1980s, isn't the only way to look at the world. He offers some suggestions on how to fix these problems, leaning most heavily on the idea of a Neighborhood Trust.
The writing is clear and engaging, and he's clearly someone who as thought long and hard on the topic that is important. The Suburbs are dead and we need to figure out how to rebuild our cities in a just and sustainable way.
This book looks at the issue of gentrification, and how neighborhoods can improve, without their residents being displaced. It's a real problem - how are people supposed to work to make their communities better, more livable, if by doing so they end up making it attractive to people to move in who will quickly price them out of their own homes?
He uses Olneyville, a predominately Latino neighborhood on the western edge of Providence Rhode Island as his case study. This is a community that is on the verge of gentrification. And as we are living in a "Back to the City" era, after years of suburbanization, it's an important question.
You get a history of the neighborhood and a look at some of the personalities in the community. He's done years' worth of research in the community.
You get a look inside the local elementary school and a long discussion on the role of a school as a community anchor and why test scores don't always tell the full picture. He gives a history of policing in Providence, and how it was turned around from one of the most problematic departments in the nation to one focused on policing that asked "if I lived in this neighborhood, how would I work to make it more livable." He talks about some of the benefactors for the community, such as that resulted in the rehabilitation of the community, and how hard it is that the expertise and funds are all coming from outside in, and that local people don't end up with a lot of say in what is happening around them.
He lays the blame largely on neo-liberalism and the idea that economic forces are the only ones that matter -and that if you can't win in a "free market" you deserve to lose. But this idea, so entrenched since the 1980s, isn't the only way to look at the world. He offers some suggestions on how to fix these problems, leaning most heavily on the idea of a Neighborhood Trust.
The writing is clear and engaging, and he's clearly someone who as thought long and hard on the topic that is important. The Suburbs are dead and we need to figure out how to rebuild our cities in a just and sustainable way.
January 28, 2023
Excellent research. Excellent writing. Excellent analysis. I could not put this book down. The author weaves a seamless tapestry of anecdotal, academic, and statistical research, identifying a complex problem and proposing an innovative solution.
December 23, 2021
3.5 Thought-provoking work about what it means to “fix” a neighborhood.
January 27, 2025
So good!! Accessible and important. One of my favorite nonfiction reads ever.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews