Invisible Cracks: How Policy and Neglect Broke American Cities
This episode reviews Chapter Eleven of American economist and economic historian Peter Temin’s The Vanishing Middle Class. Temin traces the decline of American urban infrastructure and public services, particularly since the 1970s, linking it to the migration of affluent populations to the suburbs and the corresponding reduction in federal support for cities.
The chapter highlights how decisions such as Milliken v. Bradley accelerated suburban flight, leaving urban schools and infrastructure increasingly neglected. Temin points to the dangers of lead contamination in older school buildings—rooted in historical choices of piping materials and compounded by underinvestment—as emblematic of this broader decline.
He also applies the concept of “defensible space” to explain how poorly designed public housing eroded social capital, worsened by inadequate maintenance and rising antisocial behavior. Finally, Temin details the nationwide neglect of bridges, mass transit, and other critical infrastructure, showing how political priorities favoring low taxes over essential investment have deepened urban decay and disproportionately harmed low-wage communities.
