Behind the contentious politics of immigration lies the question of how well new immigrants are becoming part
of American society. To address this question, Inheriting the City draws on the results of a ground-breaking study
of young adults of immigrant parents in metropolitan New York to provide a comprehensive look at their social,
economic, cultural, and political lives.
Inheriting the City examines five immigrant groups to disentangle the complicated question of how they are faring
relative to native-born groups, and how achievement differs between and within these groups. While some experts
worry that these young adults would not do as well as previous waves of immigrants due to lack of high-paying manufacturing
jobs, poor public schools, and an entrenched racial divide, Inheriting the City finds that the second generation
is rapidly moving into the mainstream�speaking English, working in jobs that resemble those held by native New
Yorkers their age, and creatively combining their ethnic cultures and norms with American ones. Far from descending
into an urban underclass, the children of immigrants are using immigrant advantages to avoid some of the obstacles
that native minority groups cannot.