The conventional wisdom has been to blame the decline of the cities on external factors, especially a perception that the US federal government has failed to provide sufficient financial resources. But Siegel disputes this view, showing that federal funding has not declined, it has only not risen as fast as burgeoning city budgets. Siegel shows that central city decline is, first of all, the result of conscious city-level policies that have "back-fired."

For those inclined to believe that the central cities must be restored to their former importance, such as through densifying "new urbanist" policies, "The Future Once Happened Here" will be very disappointing. Siegel shows that the cities have been abandoned by middle income people because they have failed in their fundamental duty of security (crime prevention), failed to educate children effectively, failed to provide quality public services and failed to maintain a competitive tax structure. Siegel's work supports the thesis that the fundamental problem of the cities is not revenues, it is spending --- how else could such public policy failure be achieved at so great a cost? Residents are free to leave, and many do. Siegel notes that a large percentage of residents in each city plan to leave. Ben Bissenger's recent book on Philadelphia ("A Prayer for the City") chronicles the decision making process of one dedicated urbanite family that tried more than once to live in the central city, but was driven out by crime. It is a less difficult decision for people and families who have no particular passion for the city. As a result, the cities are increasingly populated by those with low income, and those with high enough income to opt out of reliance on city services, through expensive private schools and high security apartment buildings. But there are even worse examples than the New York, Washington and Los Angeles examples that Siegel relies upon. In less than 50 years, St. Louis has managed to drive away 60 percent of its population. More people have moved out of Detroit and Chicago combined than live in metropolitan Portland (Oregon). Cleveland --- the current darling of the urban revitalization cheerleaders --- has dropped below 500,000, a humbling development for a city that neared one million at its peak. The list goes on and on.

While Siegel ends his book on an optimistic note, there is, at best, faint cause for optimism. Urban revitalization is now largely limited to superimposing publicly subsidized infrastructure, such as convention centers, domed stadia, entertainment facilities and light rail lines on organism with some vitality at the center (downtown) surrounded by tire shaped devastation. It will be sad indeed if the ultimate revitalization of the cities is to convert their downtowns into the equivalent of regional amusement parks.

Fred Siegel brings a fresh and innovative perspective to a problem that is much more fundamental than is usually admitted --- the effective demise of US central cities.