“An intelligent analysis. Sensible, undoctrinaire, even good-humored. An appealing mixture of passion and clinical dispassion.” –Washington Post Book World”The best antidote I’ve read to the doom-and-gloom prophecies concerning the future of urban America”. –Bill Moyers”This is fresh and fascinating material; it is essential for understanding not only how to avoid repeating terrible mistakes of the past, but also how to recover from them.” –Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities

From coast to coast across America there are countless urban success stories about rejuvenated neighborhoods and resurgent business districts. Roberta Brandes Gratz defines the phenomenon as “urban husbandry”—the care, management, and preservation of the built
environment nurtured by genuine participatory planning efforts of government, urban planners, and average citizen.

“In Cities Back from the Edge, Gratz and Mintz offer a love song for the city—their volume, attractively packaged and richly illustrated, is really a cookbook for downtown revitalization. It turns out the most valuable contribution to urban understanding of the year isn’t only a book, it’s also a bumper sticker: Think globally, act locally.” –The Wall Street JournalCities Back From the Edge was featured again in The New York Times. Frank Rich writes, “In their new book persuasively arguing for less grandiose, more indigenous urban renewal, Roberta Brandes Gratz and Norman Mintz write that a ‘collection of visitor attractions does not add up to a city’ whether those attractions are cultural centers, convention centers, aquariums, stadiums or enclosed malls.” –The New York Times

(Rockefeller Brothers Fund, March 1, 2000)