Ep. 141: How “Most Livable Cities” Lists Center Upwardly Mobile White Professionals
Added 2021-07-21 15:28:32 +0000 UTC"America's 50 best cities to live in," reveals USA Today. "These rising U.S. cities could become the top places to live and work from home," reports CNBC. "The best U.S. cities to raise a family," lists MarketWatch.
Over and over again in American media we hear stories centered around ranking, judging and analyzing the rather vague concept of a city. But who is being discussed when we talk about quote-unquote "cities"? How are "cities" a meaningful unit to understand a given space, especially in a country marked by runaway inequality and segregation?
When we’re told Johns Creek, Georgia, is the best city for "young people," or Carmel, Indiana, is the most "livable," whose lives and experiences are the media really talking about? Who is the audience for these reports about the best cities for families, for nightlife, for safety, for education, for happiness?
The criteria most U.S. corporate media uses centers a very particular constituent. Your average homeowner or prospective homeowner, usually white, upwardly mobile, namely, those who marketers, investors and real estate agents most want to reach.
Cities then, aren't deemed livable for their fair labor practices, but for their business-friendly policies. They're not worth moving to for their abundance of free public space in low-income neighborhoods, but for their charming boutiques and chic restaurants. They don't generally rank high for their strong rent-control laws, but for their ability to attract tech companies and they capture attention not for their excellent mental-health statistics, but for their booming economies.
On this episode, we parse the ways in which media coverage of cities and urban living — often crafted by white professional-class writers for white professional-class audiences, and funded by faceless parent companies and corporate advertisers — centers the most powerful while ignoring the needs of the working class, the homeless, people with disabilities, and the vast majority of Black and brown residents.
Our guest is VOCAL-NY's Jawanza James Williams.
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Guest
Jawanza James Williams is Director of Organizing at VOCAL-NY, a statewide grassroots membership organization that builds power among low-income people directly impacted by HIV/AIDS, the drug war, mass incarceration, and homelessness.
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Show Notes
How Urban Planning Keeps Cities Segregated—and Maintains White Supremacy
Julian Agyeman | July 31, 2020 | Yes Magazine
How systemic racism shaped the ecosystems of U.S. cities
Meagan Cantwell | October 9, 2020 | Science
The ‘Great Reshuffling’ Is Shifting Wealth to the Exurbs
Laura Forman | June 25, 2021 | The Wall Street Journal
New York Is Dead. Long Live New York.
Alex Williams | May 15, 2021 | The New York Times
America’s Biggest Cities Were Already Losing Their Allure. What Happens Next?
Sabrina Tavernise and Sarah Mervosh | April 19, 2020 | The New York Times
The coronavirus pandemic spells the end for big cities — again
Aria Bendix | May 8, 2020 | Insider
Aitor Hernandez-Morales, Kalina Oroschakoff and Jacopo Barigazzi | July 27, 2020 | Politico
8 Underappreciated American Cities You Need to Check Out This Year
January 18, 2019 | Thrillist
How Urban Design Perpetuates Racial Inequality–And What We Can Do About It
Diana Budds | July 18, 2016 | Fast Company
Analysis of Data from the Places Rated Almanac
Richard A. Becker, Lorraine Denby, Robert McGill and Allan R. Wilks | August 1987 | The American Statistician
The Best Places to Live in America
Richard Eisenberg and Debra Wishik Englander | August 1, 1987 | Money Magazine
The Power Broker: The Best Bill Drafter in Albany
Robert Caro | July 22, 1974 | The New Yorker
The Power Broker II: If The End Doesn't Justify The Means, What Does?
Robert Caro | July 29, 1974 | The New Yorker
The Power Broker III: How Robert Moses Got Things Done
Robert Caro | August 4, 1974 | The New Yorker
The Power Broker IV: Point Of No Return
Robert Caro | August 11, 1974 | The New Yorker
Moses Rips Into ‘Venomous’ Biography
Michael T. Kaufman | August 27, 1974 | The New York Times
Robert Caro | December 27, 1997 | The New Yorker
Saving the City: An Interview With Brian Anderson
Conor Friedersdorf | June 1, 2010 | The Atlantic
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here.
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Comments
I look forward to reading this!! Just retired a year early due to Covid, have been in the Bay Area for 32 years, in the midst of a move to Duluth, Minnesota which I know will be cold as hell. BUT-- it won't have the fire season we've had the past 4 years, nor the traffic jams, nor housing expen$e$-- I got a much nicer place for fewer$$ . . . Anyway, sure after 40 years of working since age 19 I'm glad to retire and recognize my privilege living off a civil service pension for the last 27 years . . . Anyway, looking forward to hearing what I may have missed or overlooked when planning my transition.
Mark Schneider
2021-07-28 15:44:30 +0000 UTC"Green new Neil"lmao
Coupcumber
2021-07-23 11:38:36 +0000 UTC
