Saving America's Cities

Starred review from September 1, 2019

Urban renewal in the United States is often viewed as a well-intentioned failure. Cohen (American studies, Harvard Univ.) acknowledges this opinion but moves toward a more nuanced interpretation through the lens of one of its foremost proponents: Ed Logue (1921-2000). A native of Philadelphia, Logue attended Yale on a bursary, working in the dining halls and joining the Labor Party. To Logue, revitalizing cities in postwar America was an egalitarian mission. Cohen describes the many contradictions of midcentury urban renewal birthed from New Deal idealism. Logue and his allies believed firmly in desegregation, yet the planning and implementation largely ignored grassroots voices. Logue's personal life and public beliefs were often in conflict. He argued for the destruction of 19th-century neighborhoods, yet chose to live in Boston's Beacon Hill, which reminded him of his childhood home. Cohen follows Logue's career from New Haven, CT, in the late 1950s through the Bronx in the 1980s, a career ultimately undone by the Reagan administration, which withdrew what little funding was left for urban public projects. Cohen doesn't necessarily defend urban renewal, instead using Logue's story to provide insight behind the policies. VERDICT One of America's most controversial policies as seen through the career of one of its most outspoken advocates; an essential read.--Bart Everts, Rutgers Univ.-Camden Lib., NJ

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2019
A biography of urban planner Ed Logue (1921-2000). In fashion across the United States after World War II, "urban renewal" often meant razing low-income neighborhoods to build new highways and upscale housing, displacing people of color without providing adequate relocation services. Logue, a sometimes acerbic, supremely confident planner and academic, earned a reputation as a public administrator sensitive to the needs of the poor as well as the wealthy. Starting in New Haven, Logue--in tandem with the mayor, legislators, and private-sector developers--won national and then international acclaim for improving city life for a significant percentage of residents. While those being displaced sometimes complained that Logue failed to listen to their wishes and needs, Cohen (American Studies/Harvard Univ.; A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America, 2003, etc.) demonstrates that Logue did sincerely consider the relocation of low-income residents, even while appearing condescending at times. Convinced he had accomplished all he could in New Haven, he accepted the challenge of urban renewal in Boston, a city with more serious problems, both in terms of financing and regarding white residents who were pushing back against mixed-race neighborhoods. While working through the Boston obstacles, Logue received an offer from New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to implement urban renewal throughout New York state. In this deeply researched work, Cohen skillfully chronicles Logue's rise and fall during his New York tenure, which ended in the mid-1980s. "As opportunities allowed it, [he] enjoyed being what I have described as a rebel in the belly of the establishment beast, using his powerful position to pursue his goals and, if necessary, impose his own standards and values on projects and people," writes the author. "But over time Logue learned that this role did not always serve him well." Though Logue's life stands on its own, it's inevitable that readers will compare this book to Robert Caro's lauded Robert Moses biography, The Power Broker. While it's not that, Cohen's portrait is well rounded and useful for public officials and students of city planning and public works. A robust, richly documented biography.

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September 9, 2019
Harvard historian Cohen (Consumers’ Republic) charts the life and career of pugnacious urban planner Ed Logue in this methodical reappraisal of the successes and failures of postwar urban renewal. From his early days remaking postindustrial New Haven and Boston to his rise and fall as the head of the powerful New York State Urban Development Corporation, and finally his redemption in the burned-out streets of the South Bronx, Logue defied easy characterization. A committed New Dealer, he believed above all in the duty of the federal government to provide decent housing, yet he spearheaded new public-private funding schemes; he initially limited his community outreach to established interest groups, but later evolved his approach to more closely resemble grassroots participatory democracy. Cohen’s lucid account provides insights into the convictions that drove Logue, from his commitment to racial integration to the working-class sympathies he developed as an Irish Catholic scholarship student at Yale College. Yet her central argument—that the era of federal urban renewal was one of not only squandered promises, but real progress—will be familiar to readers with an interest in the subject. The result is a sturdy biography that doesn’t break new ground in the ongoing debate over urban policy.

Starred review from October 1, 2019
Sixteen years after her landmark A Consumer's Republic, distinguished historian Cohen reinterprets mid-century urban renewal through the life of Ed Logue, the master rebuilder who led redevelopment efforts in New Haven, Boston, and New York. Logue, contends Cohen, defies the longstanding caricature of urban renewal as a Manichean struggle between big, bad bureaucrats?think Robert Moses?and scrappy neighborhood activists like Jane Jacobs. An avid New Dealer, Logue believed redevelopment improved residents' lives. He proclaimed his commitment to democratic participation and racial integration and adapted his approach amid changing public opinion. First in New Haven, then in Boston and New York, Logue epitomized a class of talented urban administrators adept at using federal dollars for big projects. In Boston, he revived downtown retail, yet faced defiance in the neighborhoods. He epitomized the tension between renewers' supposed faith in democracy and their belief that experts like themselves must be in charge. Cohen, through meticulous research, paints an intricate, sympathetic portrait of Logue. Unlike the approach taken in her previous work, she summons little of her formidable talent as a cultural historian, instead prioritizing bureaucratic struggles over big ideas. Nevertheless, Cohen has given readers a book as substantial and complex as the man and controversial movement it explains.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)