City by City

A collection of essays—historical and personal—about the present and future of American citiesEdited by Keith Gessen and Stephen Squibb City by City is a collection of essays—historical personal and somewhere in between—about the present and future of American cities. It sweeps from Gold Rush Alaska to Miami Florida encompassing cities large and small growing and failing. These essays look closely at the forces—gentrification underemployment politics culture and crime—that shape urban life. They also tell the stories of citizens whose fortunes have risen or fallen with those of the cities they call home.A cross between Hunter S. Thompson Studs Terkel and the Great Depression–era WPA guides to each state in the Union City by City carries this project of American storytelling up to the days of our own Great Recession.