A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization

Some years change the course of history. 2020 was one of those years.

As a pandemic, lockdowns, and an economic downturn convulsed America, police killings of George Floyd and other African Americans touched off the largest protest movement in U.S. history. At the same time, mass shootings soared; many states saw unprecedented increases in gun-related incidents. Churning in the background were a bitter presidential election campaign and counterprotests opposing public health measures and the election result itself.

Mayors of cities big and small struggled with some of these challenges, but Dennis McBride, the new mayor of a mid-sized, mostly-White suburb bordered by the majority-minority City of Milwaukee—called the "heartland of the heartland"—faced them all. His city, a microcosm of a troubled America, teetered on the verge of anarchy while playing a crucial role in the presidential election. A City on the Edge is the gripping story of how he and other mayors have steered America's hometowns through a storm of personal and political divisions.

Though the chaos of 2020 has gradually subsided, it is still reverberating in the nation's economy, politics, and psyche. The changes sparked by the events of that historic year continue to vex mayors and their communities. Americans and their leaders are searching for a new equilibrium. That balance will be found first in our hometowns. A City on the Edge offers a path forward.