This paper addresses the causes of urban fiscal difficulty in American cities by outlining the dynamics of six distinct processes. These operate differentially in many American cities; together they converged to produce the acute difficulties in New York City. They are, nevertheless, distinct enough to consider separately both for analytical…

Describes the need to broaden the civil rights agenda to deal more effectively with issues faced by the Hispanic community. Discusses the need for a continuing governmental role in addressing urban problems. (MW)

The 1970s witnessed a sharp growth in ghetto poverty areas and heightened economic hardship within them. Census Bureau definitions and measures of poverty have not been brought up to date. Researchers must ensure that their findings are interpreted accurately by those in the public who use their ideas. (DM)

Urban planners and policy makers are concerned that the image of cities conveyed to metropolitan viewers over television is predominantly negative. Locational and investment decisions may be influenced by the level of confidence inspired by such images. Television viewers perceive that their chance of experiencing violence in the city is higher…

Editors of 16 daily newspapers in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey were interviewed regarding their awareness of local and international urban problems and the reporting of urban problems in their newspapers. Content analysis was then used to determine the urban problems covered by the newspapers. In narrative and tabular form, this…

These papers share perspectives on crime and justice. The following lectures are included: (1) "Crime Control, the Police, and Culture Wars: Broken Windows and Cultural Pluralism" (George L. Kelling); (2) "Race, the Police, and 'Reasonable Suspicion'" (Randall Kennedy); (3) "The American Experience with Stimulants and Opiates" (David F. Musto);…

The "Chicago School" is the communications legacy left by late nineteenth and early twentieth century Chicago sociologists and journalists. It represents a research tradition of participant-observation and urban journalism concerned with the quality of urban life, as well as a commitment to solving urban problems through civic…

A study examined public relations aspects of the police confrontation and bombing of the revolutionary Black group, MOVE, in Philadelphia, in which 11 persons were killed, 250 were left homeless, and 61 homes were destroyed. It explored if and how race affected the crisis and whether Black media and general media were treated differently. City…

While there exists considerable sentiment about the older urban areas of the United States, little empirical work dealing explicitly with the problems of these areas has been done. This study is a preliminary investigation into the use of urban age as an independent variable. Preliminary results indicate that: (1) racial transition is not related…

In the 1980s, homelessness attracted considerable attention from the media, advocates, politicians, and the public. Virtually every sector of society and the government responded. Interest in the issue has waned considerably since then, but the problem continues growing, particularly in large urban areas. While public policies address the problem,…

Funding was received for a long overdue serious study of inner-city decay in Canada. Presented are the hypotheses and research methods for this projected study. The first policy challenge is providing evidence of the extent and seriousness of inner-city decay in Canada, particularly since urban difficulties are often presumed to be a problem in…

Although by no means universally so, urban graffiti is commonly regarded as vandalism. It costs authorities in Australia hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove each year, and it offends many adults as callow effusions of the territorial markings of "human tomcats." Authorities are mounting campaigns to catch the offenders in the act…

Depictions of evil in the modern American vigilante film of the 1970s and 1980s fall into several categories. Modern vigilante film may be defined as film concerning the efforts of a private citizen in the late twentieth century urban environments of New York City or Los Angeles to operate outside the law in ridding the streets of evil and crime.…

The positions expressed reflect several perspectives on the university-urban district cooperative leadership program carried out by Pennsylvania State University and the Philadelphia school district. The statements are made by students now holding positions as high school assistant principal, elementary principal, elementary assistant principal,…

Discusses the following three points: 1) city government must play an active role in creating a sense of community among diverse groups; 2) national and mayoral leadership and private sector involvement are required to improve urban education; and 3) opportunities must be created to offer gainful employment to all who wish to work. (MW)