Dan Immergluck's recent book, Red Hot City is chock full of staggering data on how Atlanta has become a city of inequality and de-facto racial segregation. I was surprised to learn about the racist background of my hometown. If you are a leader, activist, or resident, consider some of these facts from his book:

For example, did you know...

• "Ponce City Market pays $250k in property taxes when it should be paying close to $20m...if you fixed that problem across the board, the city could have $100m in new revenue annually...if you devoted 40% of that to affordable housing, that’s $40m a year."

• The gorgeous Ansley Park neighborhood got its start with racially restrictive covenants.

• Inman Park & Druid Hills used lot size and minimum prices to keep out a certain class of people.

• Invest Atlanta and the Development Authority of Fulton County offered large property tax breaks to developers of large luxury apartment buildings (who would have built these buildings even without the tax breaks).

For anyone in the industry, the Atlanta Way is common knowledge. There is an ethic of preserving the initiatives of investors while simply making a superficial nod to the needs of low-income city residents. The growth in the city's wealth has gone to private hands instead of improving public life.

But to those who haven't lived "a day in the life" in Atlanta, some of these might come as a shock.

Professor Immergluck makes an exceptional review of the city's development history and he delivers his message with bite.

If you are looking for ways to work on equitable cities, consider Atlanta for lessons and start with a read of Red Hot City .