Read The Poisoned City Flint Water and the American Urban Tragedy Anna Clark 9781250181619 Books

Product details Paperback 336 pages Publisher Picador; Reprint edition (July 23, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1250181615

The Poisoned City Flint Water and the American Urban Tragedy Anna Clark 9781250181619 Books Reviews

• When I first heard about the Flint water crisis, I just couldn't believe it. An entire city no longer had safe drinking water. The Poisoned city examines the events that led up to this crisis. Throughout the book, Clark slowly reveals the history of Flint, which at times i found kind of boring, but I recognize that it is necessary to truly understand how unique this city is.
  
  Clark's account reveals that this kind of catastrophe is a result of decaying infrastructure. The population of flint has decreased significantly over the past 50 years, but the city water system is still the same size. I was shocked to discover that people living in flint had some of the highest water bills in the country.
  
  This is an interesting book, but I don't believe it is the definitive account of the Flint Water Crisis. That crisis is still unfolding, and I would have liked it if Clark included more first hand accounts of the daily routine that people living there faced. The book is also vary short. It is 300 pages, but 100 of those pages are notes, and there are about 50 pages worth of Flint City History, which I didn't find all that interesting. I bought the book to learn about lead in the water, not about hunting and trading in the 1700s.
• An insightful and deeply researched account not only of the Flint Water Crisis, but also it’s cultural, political and economic antecedents. Clark sets out, and succeeds, in answering the age old question posed at every tragic failure of the public trust How could this have happened here? The answers, in all their multifarious complexity, are presented clearly, concisely and without unnecessary contempt for the bureaucrats that slept through this man-made disaster. Yes, the book discusses the individuals who bear fault for specific technical decisions in the case, but it also lays bear the decades-old and systematic governance failures that laid the foundations for these rotten public utilities. Clark is a comprehensive and deeply sympathetic researcher and an adept writer. I flew through this book and was satisfied by what I learned. The conclusion also sets forth some cogent advice for the prevention of similar public health failures. Well worth it.
• This book explains very well why municipal authorities simply do not want to have real-time water quality (and other environmental parameters') monitoring. There is a real business niche for INDEPENDENT water (and air) quality monitoring and posting such information in real time. This is MANY billions' worth opportunity. The book proves it. To my taste, the book is a bit overloaded with emotional and personal information, but well, nothing is perfect. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend.
• A very thorough account of this tragedy with many details I was not aware of. This book is very readable and the story is heartbreaking, especially since it is not fiction.
• The inequity between communities, long latent, had been made excruciatingly vivid to people who lived outside Flint. For so long, the state had dragged its feet, dismissing the city as if it were too dysfunctional and impoverished for locals to be seen as an authority, even in the matters of their own lives.
• Excellent detail about the regional politics and the rise and fall of a once admired city. Helped me put the news stories in context and to understand what and why certain decisions were fatefully made. An easy read, and the type of book you will have trouble putting down! Very extensive research in the back that was as much fun to read as the actual story. Looking forward to Anna Clark's next publications!
• An important chronicle.
• so far, it's very interesting