Broke : hardship and resilience in a city of broken promises
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Bankruptcy and the austerity it represents have become a common "solution" for struggling American cities. What do the spending cuts and limited resources do to the lives of city residents? Kirshner follows seven Detroiters as they navigate life during and after their city's bankruptcy. For them, financial issues are mired within the larger ramifications of poor urban policies, restorative negligence on the state and federal level and-- even before the decision to declare Detroit bankrupt in 2013-- the root causes of a city's fiscal demise. Detroit is emblematic, Kirshner shows, that cities are never quite given the aid that they need by either the state or federal government for their residents to survive, not to mention flourish. -- adapted from jacket