How could Northern California, the wealthiest and most politically progressive region in the United States, become one of the earliest epicenters of the foreclosure crisis? How could this region continuously reproduce racial poverty and reinvent segregation in old farm towns one hundred miles from the urban core?

This is the story of the suburbanization of poverty, the failures of regional planning, urban sprawl, NIMBYism, and political fragmentation between middle class white environmentalists and communities of color. As Alex Schafran shows, the responsibility for this newly segregated geography lies in institutions from across the region, state, and political spectrum, even as the Bay Area has never managed to build common purpose around the making and remaking of its communities, cities, and towns. Schafran closes the book by presenting paths toward a new politics of planning and development that weave scattered fragments into a more equitable and functional whole.


About the Author
Alex Schafran writes about urban and regional change. Born and raised in the Bay Area, he is currently Lecturer in Urban Geography at the University of Leeds.

Visit alexschafran.com for tour dates and speaking engagements.

Reviews
"[A] deep and complex analysis of why the Bay Area of Northern California . . . remains deeply racially and class segregated and facing an affordable housing crisis." * Journal of Urban Affairs *



Book Information
ISBN 9780520286450
Author Alex Schafran
Format Paperback
Page Count 408
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 544g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm