Free Enterprise City: Houston in Political-Economic Perspective

New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1988. CG3 - A first edition (no additional printing) hardcover book in good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protectd. Dust jacket has some wrinkling, chipping and crease on the edges and corners, some scattered light scratches, rubbing and wrinkling, tanning and light shelf wear. Book has some bumped corners, wrinkling on the spine edges, some highlighting and wrinkling/crease on some inside pages, light discoloration and shelf wear. 9.5"x6.5", 322 pages Satisfaction Guaranteed. Is Houston, Texas, the nation's fourth largest city, the successful model of a free enterprise city it is widely assumed to be? In this first, in-depth, critical analysis of a Sunbelt city, after assessing the social costs of Houston's growth and its current social and economic systems, Joe Feagin answers with a resounding "no." Feagin argues that it is incorrect to view Houston as an autonomous, self-regulating city; Houston has long been dependent on the international economy, first with the cotton trade and now with the oil economy. Moreover, Houston's business elite may say proudly that federal, state, and local government intervention is minimal in Houston, but in reality the close relationship between the state and the business elite is one of the more revealing aspects of Houston's political-economic evolution. Feagin finds that business people encourage governmental intervention when it improves commerce and profit, but not when it is intended to improve public services for poor and moderate-income neighborhoods. For example, the business elite has encouraged government agencies to issue bonds to improve the port, but not to increase publicly subsidized housing. With weak urban planning in the public interest and virtually no zoning, the city faces serious problems with flooding, toxic waste, water and air pollution, street maintenance, and sewage - problems that even worse than in other cities. Many of these problems, Feagin argues, are the social costs of the "good business climate," costs that are borne more by the minority and poor residents of Houston than by the business elite. Using a broad analysis that takes into account Houston's history, politics, economics, international orientation, ethnic, relations, planning experience, and the actions of individual leaders, Feagin paints a picture of a city that has been a profitable paradise for the affluent and a difficult place for everyone else. In the mid-1980s, as Houston faces an unprecedented economic crisis, business has been slow to respond, the poor continue to suffer, and little groundwork has been laid to enable the city to diversify and to make a rapid recovery.. First Edition. Hardcover. Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.