"By showing how universities have used K-12 education as a tool to shape their urban environs, Race, Real Estate, and Education adds an important dimension to the literature on university-driven gentrification and, more broadly, on present-day urban transformations. Epstein takes a deep dive into the history and context of the University of Pennsylvania's participation in post-war urban renewal efforts that set the stage for a decades-long, agonizingly slow, and fitful process that eventually succeeded in transforming West Philadelphia from a kind of 'urban village' to an 'innovation district, ' as the planners originally intended. Epstein brings richness to the story through interviews with displaced residents and former students that illuminate the experience of loss and change and being in the crosshairs of contention about race and community futures."--Elaine Simon, former Codirector of the Urban Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, and coauthor of Schools for Sale: Disinvestment, Dispossession, and School Reuse in Philadelphia

"Epstein presents a nuanced, textured history that is enriched by personal accounts, informative maps, and wonderful, vivid illustrations. In clear prose and with thorough documentation, he fleshes out the many ways that good intentions, naivete, and idealism have combined with greed, concentrated power, and racism to shape West Philadelphia."--Hidden City