Urban City

The first European settlers saw America as a paradise regained. The continent seemed to offer a God-given opportunity to start again and build the perfect community. Those messianic days are gone. But as Alex Krieger argues in City on a Hill, any attempt at deep understanding of how the country has developed must recognize the persistent and dramatic consequences of utopian dreaming. Even as ideals have changed, idealism itself has for better and worse shaped our world of bricks and mortar, macadam, parks, and farmland.

In Saving Our Cities, William W. Goldsmith shows how cities can be places of opportunity rather than places with problems. With strongly revived cities and suburbs, working as places that serve all their residents, metropolitan areas will thrive, thus making the national economy more productive, the environment better protected, the citizenry better educated, and the society more reflective, sensitive, and humane.

In Hell's Kitchen, where magic and mayhem are just part of the neighborhood, Vinny "The Charm" Caruso has carved out a reputation as a boxer with supernatural flair. His charm magic gives him an edge in and out of the ring, allowing him to navigate the underworld of magical fight clubs and supernatural politics.

On a rainy night in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen, a woman throws a doll from the fifth-floor window of a gutted tenement, then leaps herself. From his own apartment a few blocks away, freelance photographer David Corman listens to the radio reports as they come over his headset. Corman is a man at the edge, threatened with eviction, besieged by his wife’s attempt to regain custody of their daughter, yet reluctant to give up the life that permits him to roam the night. In the woman’s dying fall, he sees the chance to sell a story....

Dr. Sampson Davis looks at the health-care crisis in the inner city from a rare perspective: as a doctor who works on the front line of emergency medical care in the poor urban neighborhood where he grew up. He also offers practical advice for those living in such communities, where conditions like asthma, heart disease, strokes, obesity, and AIDS are disproportionately endemic. As someone who has struggled with many of the issues troubling his patients, Dr. Davis is able to write with empathy.

Clean water, paved roads, public transit, electricity and gas, sewers, waste processing, telecommunication, even the Internet—all this infrastructure is what makes cities work and powers our lives, often seamlessly and silently. Virtually everything we do and consume depends on infrastructure. Yet, most people have no idea how these systems work. How is water treated? How do cities manage rainwater? Why do traffic jams exist? How is electricity generated and distributed? What happens to trash after it is picked up? How does the Internet work?

Once upon a time, Elise Sutton had been a powerful witch and paranormal enforcer. Once she'd been madly in love with Fae lord Aidan Greene. But when Aidan had considered his duties more important than their relationship, the love affair ended badly. Shortly after, while on the hunt for a rogue demon, Elise was brutalized and almost killed. Months later, she gave birth to a baby girl. To protect her child, and her heart, Elise decided to live a nonmagical life - - until she meets Aidan again....

As a cop who keeps paranormals in line, Des has a hard time trusting them. So why does he want the beautiful werewolf Lana more than his next breath? She's mouthy, flamboyant and distractingly sexy - not the type of woman for a reserved mage like him. Lana admires Des, but she can't be with someone who won't take her seriously, no matter how much she'd love to rip off his dress shirt. When a dangerous new drug shows up in Detroit, Des must locate the source, and Lana is determined to help. But their plan goes awry, trapping them in a demon dimension.

In the wake of the battle that tore his Family apart, Zan Mardova wants nothing more than to put a stop to the centuries of hatred and war, but replacing his father as Il Capo is more difficult than Zan imagined. Old friends have become new enemies, and foreign Skilled are setting their sights on Venice, hoping to take advantage of the unrest and claim the city for themselves.

Magic City is full of hustlers, con men and magicals just out for a good time. The perfect mix of glamour and gangsters. But underneath it all, a con man is scheming to pull it all apart. Can Ruby and her weretiger, Idryll, find a way to save her hometown before time runs out? Or will her quest lead her to her own unforeseen destiny? New challenges can also bring new allies. A Drow trader with an eclectic set of resources offers to help. A purple-haired troll who offers to teach her to fly or the hooded archer whose help Ruby can't decline. Are they really friends or foes?

City Girl is a gripping street fiction novel that delves into the turbulent life of Rasha "Raz" Collins, a determined twenty-year-old woman living in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Annapolis. Rasha dreams of escaping her troubled community, and her middle school sweetheart, Monte, appears to be her ticket out.

Drew Philp, an idealistic college student from a working-class Michigan family, withdraws from the comforts of life on a university campus in search of a place to live where he can make a difference. He sets his sights on Detroit, the failed metropolis of abandoned buildings, widespread poverty, and rampant crime - a complicated source of national fascination, often stereotyped and little understood. Arriving with no job, no friends, and no money, Philp is naïvely determined to fix the huge, broken city with his own hands and on his own terms.

Billy Sothern's Down in New Orleans illustrates, in very human and heartbreaking ways, how the horrors that emerged during and following Hurricane Katrina existed long before the storm. These beautifully composed stories not only reveal the dignity—and amazing grit and grace—of the hurricane's survivors; they also illuminate larger truths about the urgent issues of our day.

Trixie Gardens is one average witch, thank you very much. A down-on-her-luck taxi driver in the paranormal section of New York, Trixie has spent a lifetime repressing her magic. Until one night, she meets a grumpy, devilishly handsome vampire in a dark alley, and she accidentally activates her powers by shooting the cork from a cheap cabernet bottle at his face. It turns out the vampire is none other than Dominic Kent—the stormy, rough-around-the-edges billionaire who owns Trixie’s apartment building.

Long accused of racism and “white flight”, the ethnic Americans driven from their homes and neighborhoods—the author included—finally get the chance to tell their side of the story.

Reporter and birder Ryan Goldberg came to birding unexpectedly, but as many first timers do after seeing their “spark” bird, he fell hard. Enamored by the incredible variety of species that pass through his hometown of New York City, and with the other passionate birders he meets, he embarks on a year of reporting on the natural wonders hiding amidst the skyscrapers. He learns that millions of birds migrate through the five boroughs each year—at least 400 different species, way more than can be found in Yellowstone National Park.

In their new audiobook, The New Localism, urban experts Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak reveal where the real power to create change lies and how it can be used to address our most serious social, economic, and environmental challenges.

From the moment forty-eight alien superheroes crash-landed on Earth, photographer Monika Neumann had a favorite. She’s been crushing on the literally electrifying Taranis ever since she saw the cutie crawling out of his pod. Unfortunately, his popularity isn’t exactly crackling these days. He could use an image boost. Monika is in. One right photo op and she’ll put her ridiculously hot lightning-bolt-wielding hero back in the public’s favor. The best part is, the mission will bring her closer to Taranis.

After smartphones, smart TVs, smart windows, and other smart products on the horizon, smart cities were the next logical step in trying to create a better, brighter, more sustainable, and economically sound future. A relatively new term, smart cities conjures images of a cooperative, wired, prosperous utopia where citizens of all classes achieve a high quality of life. In this audiobook, we look at the qualities needed for future cities to survive and thrive.

In a world bustling with concrete, steel, and bright lights, the ancient art of witchcraft finds new life in urban environments. The Modern Urban Witch is an empowering guide that invites you to discover the magic that exists all around you—right in the heart of the city. This comprehensive resource blends traditional practices with contemporary urban living, offering insights and tools to help you cultivate a fulfilling and unique witchcraft practice.