Street

Many American inner-city neighborhoods are marked by empty lots, aging buildings slowly being reclaimed by weeds, and walls and alleys layered with graffiti. Outsiders tend to read such scenes in one of two ways: as proof of a neighborhood's danger or as a kind of picturesque decay. This collection of essays argues that both readings stop short of the causes.

The book takes Camden, New Jersey as its case study, using the street-level photographs of Camilo José Vergara, a MacArthur fellow, as its starting point. Contributors from several academic disciplines pair these images with the histories and policy decisions that produced racial and economic inequality in the city. Instead of holding Camden's residents responsible for the conditions around them, the authors trace the structures and institutional failures that brought the city to that state.

Topics range from policing and race and gentrification to food deserts, the look of urban spaces, credit markets, health care, child care, and education. Across these subjects, the contributors ask readers to rethink what they should notice when they look at a neighborhood.