"In The Overlooked Americans, public policy expert Elizabeth Currid-Halkett breaks through stereotypes about rural America. She traces how small towns are doing as well as, or better than, cities by many measures. She also shows how rural and urban Americans share core values, from opposing racism and upholding environmentalism to believing in democracy. When we focus too heavily on the far-right fringe, we overlook the millions of rural Americans...

The Absolutely Worst Places to Live in America surveyed thousands of Americans to find the fifty dirtiest, smelliest, most miserable cesspools, armpits, and tourist traps that make up this great land of ours. The "winners" of this awful distinction include the likes of: · Atlantic City, New Jersey-Come for the slots. Stay for the gang warfare and fourth-rate prostitutes. · Gary, Indiana-Like a sewer populated by 100,000 people. · Carson City,...

"Written by one of this country's foremost urban historians, Downtown is the first history of what was once viewed as the heart of the American city. It tells the fascinating story of how downtown - and the way Americans thought about downtown - changed over time. By showing how businessmen and property owners worked to promote the well-being of downtown, even at the expense of other parts of the city, it also gives a riveting account of spatial politics...

"Three of the nation's top scholars, known for tackling key mysteries about poverty in America, turn their attention from the country's poorest people to its poorest places. Based on a fresh, data-driven approach, they discover that America's most disadvantaged communities are not the big cities that get the most notice. Instead, nearly all are rural. Little if any attention has been paid to these places or to the people who make their lives there....

"From the pilgrims to Las Vegas, hippie communes to the smart city, utopianism has shaped American landscapes. The Puritan small town was the New Jerusalem. Thomas Jefferson dreamed of rational farm grids. Reformers tackled slums through crusades of civic architecture. To understand American space, Alex Krieger looks to the drama of utopian ideals"--

Life stories, based on personal interviews, of some seventy selected residents of Chicago, Ill. intended to portray changes occurring in the U.S.A. during the past few decades.

"Describes living in a city. Includes easy-to-read text for beginning readers"--

Gentrification is transforming cities, small and large, across the country. Though it's easy to bemoan the diminished social diversity and transformation of commercial strips that often signify a gentrifying neighborhood, determining who actually benefits and who suffers from this nebulous process can be much harder. The full story of gentrification is rooted in large-scale social and economic forces as well as in extremely local specifics--in short,...

An expert in American housing examines the rise of sprawling subdivisions, their effect on the environment, and sustainable development strategies. Americans are spreading out more than ever-into "exurbs" and "boomburbs" miles from anywhere, where big subdivisions offer big houses. We cling to the notion of safer neighborhoods and better schools, but what we get are longer commutes, higher taxes, and a landscape of strip malls and office parks. The...