Economic Policy and the Cities In Search of Reagan's Real Urban Policy

This article reviews the economic and urban policies of the Reagan administration in order to see the effects of both urban and non-urban policies on cities. The combined effect of these two classes of policies is called "the real urban policy." The article examines the effects on cities of changes in budgetary priorities and tax policy and discusses enterprise zones, the "New Federalism," and trends in spending on urban programs. The author finds that growing, Sunbelt cities benefit most from the administration's policies, at the expense of distressed central and northern cities.