City Bound

"Frug and Barron examine the balance between state and local control in seven cities, asserting that state control distorts and fragments policy making across a number of issues, including education, land use, and taxation. Their claim is persuasive... This work is very well grounded in the most interesting recent literature about cities and offers many important insights into how the law shapes urban public policy. Highly recommended."-Choice, September 2009 "Gerald E. Frug and David J. Barron have produced a masterful assessment of the limitations of big city and metropolitan powers at the very moment when these places drive national prosperity and are our best vehicles for social and climate solutions. There is much at stake here. Remaking local governance is now a critical element of an agenda for national renewal."-Bruce Katz, Vice President, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution "City Bound is a creative, principled, and compassionate approach to the tragedy of powerless cities and polarized regions."-Myron Orfield, University of Minnesota Law School "City Bound is the most comprehensive analysis of the legal powers of an American city that I have ever seen. The scholarship is impeccable. Gerald E. Frug and David J. Barron stress that institutions do not just reflect interests; they shape interests and bias the policy agenda."-Todd Swanstrom, Professor of Public Policy Studies, College of Public Service, Saint Louis University