John A. Bivens Jr.

For Great Cities: ...a Bold Initiative John A. Bivens Jr.

GREAT CITIES ... a Bold Initiative is about the health and well-being of our cities which affect every American. Many books have been written about sick cities and their disadvantaged residents. This book is unique in that it proposes action programs. The synergism of our proposals will uplift left-behind resi­dents, build great cities and pay for all of it with the re­sulting surge of development, economic activity and in­creased tax base. This important message is intended for and must reach our country''s leaders-in business, fi­nance, development, retraining, education, religion, sports, transportation, healthcare, entertainment and most significantly in governments at all levels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first book writ­ten on this subject by formally trained, experienced pro­fessionals in city planning, downtown revitalization and transportation. There are two sections. The first describes the problems of sick cities and then outlines a vision of great cities, an action program and a bold initiative. A "Catch-Up Edu­cation" program is seen as the only way to provide the left-behind underclass with a way out of their despair with an illustration of an existing model. The importance of a strong private-public partnership is discussed. The ways to pay for Great Cities without the influx of a new federal grant-in-aid program and the benefits to be gained conclude the first section. The second section provides insight into the community accomplishments of actual private-public partnerships. Successes and failures are described which can assist cities - large and small - in their struggles to meet the challenges of downtown development through the syner­gism generated by comprehensive programs.