Argues that the major problem of the core areas of our cities is their lack of economic value: community control is an issue only because nothing more worth fighting about remains. (JM)

Economic and demographic changes in the central city have created two conflicting urban groups: (1) the poor, who seek inexpensive housing and greater welfare expenditures; and (2) the elite, who seek neighborhood improvement, fewer housing units, and more environment-enhancing investments. Reconstruction of urban America requires a reconciliation…

This paper describes the decline and polarization of American cities into two separate and coterminous systems: the city of the poor, characterized by the function of redistribution (i.e., public welfare benefits); and the city of the elite, a city of information processing, economic facilitation, and consumption. Demographic trends and social and…