Selling Cities takes the optimistic position that cities can be revitalized by attracting and retaining the middle class. The authors, experienced policymakers as well as academics, review previous work on city revitalization; report original research on homebuyers in the Cincinnati and Wilmington, Delaware metropolitan areas; and present case studies of middle-income schooling and housing policies in these and other metropolitan areas around the U.S. and Canada.

Selling Cities spans several disciplines--economics, sociology, demography, law, and planning--and is one of the first books to examine both housing and schooling programs. It includes numerous recommendations for city revitalization; an analysis of middle-income housing programs such as tax abatements and below-market-rate mortgages; analyses of metropolitan school desegregation in the Wilmington area and magnet schools in Cincinnati; and proposals of policies to enhance cities' attraction and retention of the middle class.