Urban Illusions is the best first-hand account I know of the struggle to solve the employment problem in American cities. Mike Bernick combines a knowledge of the issues as seen from Washington with actual experience leading anti-poverty programs at the local level, a rare combination. He writes extremely well, and he makes shrewd suggestions for where employment policy should go from here. Anybody interested in American social policy will find this book invaluable.

Lawrence M. Mead, Author of Beyond Entitlement



Urban Illusions goes beyond description of inner city unemployment to consider efforts to reduce the problem. It directly examines the successes and failures that have resulted from past attempts to reduce employment. Although the volume includes data on poverty and government anti-poverty programs, it is written from the perspective of one working on a local, grass-roots level: author Michael Bernick is the founder and executive Director of this outstanding inner city employment program.