Jim Rouse
Capitalist/Idealist
Published on 6. November 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-0-7618-3944-6 (ISBN)
Description
Jim Rouse: Capitalist/Idealist is the story of a very special businessman. A successful capitalist-a real estate developer-Jim Rouse led his life as a practicing idealist. He sought to help people enrich their lives. He wanted people to live in an enjoyable environment and to experience the joy in caring for each other. But he knew that to raise the capital to accomplish those goals his companies had to be profitable.
As an enthusiast of urban renewal, he worked to rid core downtown areas of American cities of blight and despair. He created indoor malls in the new post-war suburbs that would be focal points for community life. He developed a whole new city-Columbia, Maryland-to show what an American city could be like. For one thing, it would be a city totally integrated racially, a city in which anyone could buy or rent on any street. In retirement, Rouse founded the Enterprise Foundation to produce profits that would be used to provide the poorest of Americans with a decent place to live. Rouse was one of America's first practitioners of social enterprise.
As an enthusiast of urban renewal, he worked to rid core downtown areas of American cities of blight and despair. He created indoor malls in the new post-war suburbs that would be focal points for community life. He developed a whole new city-Columbia, Maryland-to show what an American city could be like. For one thing, it would be a city totally integrated racially, a city in which anyone could buy or rent on any street. In retirement, Rouse founded the Enterprise Foundation to produce profits that would be used to provide the poorest of Americans with a decent place to live. Rouse was one of America's first practitioners of social enterprise.
Reviews / Votes
Jim Rouse and Warren Buffett knew and had the highest respect for each other. They were aware of each other as men driven by a strong zest for life. Rouse, though, focused on "the improvement of mankind." Buffett focused on financial returns for investors; Rouse produced houses and neighborhoods, villages and shops, woods and lakes. Except to the extent that it could limit his good works, Rouse did not care about financial returns. His worry was solvency, not increasing profitability. He had an abhorrence of selfishness. -- from the introductory chapter of Jim Rouse: Capitalist/Idealist Readers of Paul Marx's engaging and insightful biography of Jim Rouse-and there should be many-will be caught up in the story of Rouse's remarkable ability to make the ideal seem compelling and realistic. -- C. Fraser Smith, columnist * Baltimore Sun * This book gets into the mind of Jim Rouse. It reveals how Rouse thought and what influenced him as he went about creating places that would bring out the best in people. -- Robert Tennenbaum, editor of Creating a New City: Columbia, MarylandMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Lanham, MD
United States
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
434 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7618-3944-6 (9780761839446)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Paul Marx is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of New Haven. He is the author of The Modern Rules of Style (American Bar Association Publishing, 2007) and Utopia in America (Burke Publishing, 2002). He is the editor of Modern and Classical Essayists (McGraw-Hill, 1996) and Twelve Short Story Writers (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970). As a freelance writer, he has had articles in, among other journals, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The Baltimore Sun.
Content
Part 1 Preface
Part 2 Acknowledgements
Part 3 Chronology
Chapter 4 What's the Purpose
Chapter 5 Huck on the Chesapeake
Chapter 6 Jim at School
Chapter 7 A Poor Relation
Chapter 8 The Ace
Chapter 9 The Fights Against Blight and War
Chapter 10 Stepping Stones
Chapter 11 The Company and the City
Chapter 12 Bad Mall, Good Mall
Chapter 13 The Summer of 1963
Chapter 14 The Village of Cross Keys
Chapter 15 Columbia: The Dream, the Plans
Chapter 16 Columbia: The Next America
Chapter 17 Columbia and the Vietnam War
Chapter 18 A Downward Turn
Chapter 19 Festival Marketplace: Boston
Chapter 20 Festival Marketplace: Baltimore
Chapter 21 The Social Entrepreneur
Chapter 22 Back to Baltimore
Chapter 23 Last Years
Chapter 24 Columbia Fully Grown
Chapter 25 Legacy
Part 26 Bibliography
Part 27 Index
Part 28 About the Author
Part 2 Acknowledgements
Part 3 Chronology
Chapter 4 What's the Purpose
Chapter 5 Huck on the Chesapeake
Chapter 6 Jim at School
Chapter 7 A Poor Relation
Chapter 8 The Ace
Chapter 9 The Fights Against Blight and War
Chapter 10 Stepping Stones
Chapter 11 The Company and the City
Chapter 12 Bad Mall, Good Mall
Chapter 13 The Summer of 1963
Chapter 14 The Village of Cross Keys
Chapter 15 Columbia: The Dream, the Plans
Chapter 16 Columbia: The Next America
Chapter 17 Columbia and the Vietnam War
Chapter 18 A Downward Turn
Chapter 19 Festival Marketplace: Boston
Chapter 20 Festival Marketplace: Baltimore
Chapter 21 The Social Entrepreneur
Chapter 22 Back to Baltimore
Chapter 23 Last Years
Chapter 24 Columbia Fully Grown
Chapter 25 Legacy
Part 26 Bibliography
Part 27 Index
Part 28 About the Author