Bringing Buildings Back

Price: $29.95

Second Edition
Subtitle: From Abandoned Properties to Community Assets
Author: Alan Mallach
Subject: American Studies
Paper ISBN: 978-0-8135-4986-6
Pages: 390 pages
Publication Date: January 2011

Praise: for previous edition. . .

"In countless towns and cities, reusing abandoned houses and vacant lots is tortuously complicated and time-consuming. Alan Mallach's groundbreaking book is an exceptional 'how-to' guide to help communities transform these dangerous eyesores into safe and productive homes, work places, parks and gardens."—Don Chen, program officer, Metropolitan Opportunity Unit, Ford Foundation

Description:

Written by a distinguished urban planner and practitioner with three decades of experience, the original volume of Bringing Buildings Back provided both a detailed toolkit and a call to rethink the way America carries out urban redevelopment.

This second edition of Alan Mallach's now classic work contains new material that directly addresses the issues that have arisen as communities across the country try to stabilize their neighborhoods in the wake of the foreclosure crisis. It discusses both the fundamental "big picture" issues and the technical and practical questions that have emerged. Mallach explores the concept of neighborhood stability and explains how it relates to the economic forces affecting a community, city, or region. As in the prior volume, this updated edition of Bringing Buildings Back does not seek simply to provide technical guidance to practitioners; it also suggests creative ways of thinking about local policies, strategies, and actions. Ultimately, no plan for dealing with problem real estate is about just the properties themselves; it is about how to build stronger, healthier neighborhoods, towns, and cities.

ALAN MALLACH, FAICP, is a senior research fellow of the National Housing Institute and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He has written widely on planning, housing, and community development, while working in business, government, and academe.