Neighborhood Recovery presents a public policy approach based on hard-core experience and some self-reported mistakes. One of its strengths is its rich detail of present-day projects and strategies, useful to other housing czars and students of community development planning. . . . Neighborhood Recovery is an excellent read for the sheer opportunity to see the cityÆs complex economic development challenges through the eyes of a neighborhood activist turned bureaucrat.
— APA Journal
A frank and detailed account of what it is like to run a big-city housing agency, what works and what does not.
— Jonathan Barnett, author of The Fractured Metropolis: Improving the New City, Restoring the Old C
John Kromer documents how neighborhood recovery must exist in and complement broader economic and demographic trends. The case of Philadelphia demonstrates that community development is both process and destination.
— Nicholas P. Retsinas, director, Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University
Well written, thoughtful, and laden with useful insights.
— Environment and Planning
Honest and intelligent. A creative response to the biggest challenge facing urban America today.
— Edward G. Rendell, former mayor of Philadelphia
Future debates about housing policies . . . will be far more productive if the participants have read this report from the front on how to fight the battle against urban decline.
— Philadelphia Inquirer
John KromerÆs analysis is grounded in real-world experience and proven accomplishments. This book is a primer on how to revitalize an American city.
— Henry Cisneros, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
[KromerÆs] book confronts the complexities of getting things done in a large city municipal complex. Part of the appeal of this approach is his ability to penetrate the mesozoic obscurities of local political, economic, social and programmatic strata. . . . Kromer offers the reader numerous insights about everything from community development corporations, Section 8 housing programmes and public housing to Community Development Block Grants, Project HOME and the Clinton administrationÆs Hope VI initiative. . . . I would not hesitate to assign KromerÆs book to graduate students interested in inner-city housing and neighbourhood revitalisation.
— Urban Studies
[KromerÆs] focus is on devising pragmatic and flexible approaches toward rebuilding neighborhoods, using local government, neighborhood groups, community development corporations, and developers working together. . . . One program that he is especially proud of provided first-time home-buyers with counseling and help in paying settlement costs. During RendellÆs two terms, it enabled more than 10,000 first-time buyers to own their own homes and breathed life into neighborhoods where the real estate market had been stagnant. . . . Future debates about housing policies in our city will be far more productive if the participants have read this report from the front on how to fight the battle against urban decline.
— Philadelphia Inquirer
Kromer, director of PhiladelphiaÆs Office of Housing and Community Development since 1992, addresses many of the most pressing issues facing urban communities, including homelessness, joblessness, and housing abandonment and deterioration. Combining a wealth of experience, a thorough grasp of the history of urban redevelopment programs, and a hard-boiled understanding of urban politics, Kromer advances a straightforward agenda for neighborhood revitalization. . . . Policymakers, planners, and political scientists will learn much from this book as Kromer explicates æthe key challenges and opportunities that need to be managed effectively in order for neighborhoods to recover and thrive.Æ.
— Environment and Planning
Each chapter is peppered with historic and present-day public policy decisions, their physical and social impacts of neighborhoods, and an acute analysis of local community development strategies.
— American Planning Journal