Downtown

Downtown PDF Author: Robert M. Fogelson
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300098278
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 505

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Book Description
Annotation Downtown is the first history of what was once viewed as the heart of the American city. Urban historian Robert Fogelson gives a riveting account of how downtown--and the way Americans thought about it--changed between 1880 and 1950. Recreating battles over subways and skyscrapers, the introduction of elevated highways and parking bans, and other controversies, this book provides a new and often starling perspective on downtown's rise and fall.

Downtown

Downtown PDF Author: Robert M. Fogelson
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300098278
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 505

Get Book Here

Book Description
Annotation Downtown is the first history of what was once viewed as the heart of the American city. Urban historian Robert Fogelson gives a riveting account of how downtown--and the way Americans thought about it--changed between 1880 and 1950. Recreating battles over subways and skyscrapers, the introduction of elevated highways and parking bans, and other controversies, this book provides a new and often starling perspective on downtown's rise and fall.

The Public and Its Possibilities

The Public and Its Possibilities PDF Author: John D. Fairfield
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1439902127
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
In his compelling reinterpretation of American history, The Public and Its Possibilities, John Fairfieldargues that our unrealized civic aspirations provide the essential counterpoint to an excessive focus on private interests. Inspired by the revolutionary generation, nineteenth-century Americans struggled to build an economy and a culture to complement their republican institutions. But over the course of the twentieth century, a corporate economy and consumer culture undercut civic values, conflating consumer and citizen. Fairfield places the city at the center of American experience, describing how a resilient demand for an urban participatory democracy has bumped up against the fog of war, the allure of the marketplace, and persistent prejudices of race, class, and gender. In chronicling and synthesizing centuries of U.S. history—including the struggles of the antislavery, labor, women’s rights movements—Fairfield explores the ebb and flow of civic participation, activism, and democracy. He revisits what the public has done for civic activism, and the possibility of taking a greater role. In this age where there has been a move towards greater participation in America's public life from its citizens, Fairfield’s book—written in an accessible, jargon-free style and addressed to general readers—is especially topical.

Cities of the Heartland

Cities of the Heartland PDF Author: Jon C. Teaford
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253209146
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
During the 1880s and '90s, the rise of manufacturing, the first soaring skyscrapers, new symphony orchestras and art museums, and winning baseball teams all heralded the midwestern city's coming of age. In this book, Jon C. Teaford chronicles the development of these cities of the industrial Midwest as they challenged the urban supremacy of the East. The antebellum growth of Cincinnati to Queen City status was followed by its eclipse, as St. Louis and then Chicago developed into industrial and cultural centers. During the second quarter of the twentieth century, emerging Sunbelt cities began to rob the heartland of its distinction as a boom area. In the last half of the century, however, midwestern cities have suffered some of their most trying times. With the 1970s and '80s came signs of age and obsolescence; the heartland had become the "rust belt."" "Teaford examines the complex "heartland consciousness" of the industrial Midwest through boom and bust. Geographically, economically, and culturally, the midwestern city is "a legitimate subspecies of urban life.--[book jacket].

Come and Be Shocked

Come and Be Shocked PDF Author: Mary Rizzo
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421437929
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Baltimore seen through the eyes of John Waters, Anne Tyler, Charles S. Dutton, Barry Levinson, David Simon—and also ordinary citizens. The city of Baltimore features prominently in an extraordinary number of films, television shows, novels, plays, poems, and songs. Whether it's the small-town eccentricity of Charm City (think duckpin bowling and marble-stooped row houses) or the gang violence of "Bodymore, Murdaland," Baltimore has figured prominently in popular culture about cities since the 1950s. In Come and Be Shocked, Mary Rizzo examines the cultural history and racial politics of these contrasting images of the city. From the 1950s, a period of urban crisis and urban renewal, to the early twenty-first century, Rizzo looks at how artists created powerful images of Baltimore. How, Rizzo asks, do the imaginary cities created by artists affect the real cities that we live in? How does public policy (intentionally or not) shape the kinds of cultural representations that artists create? And why has the relationship between artists and Baltimore city officials been so fraught, resulting in public battles over film permits and censorship? To answer these questions, Rizzo explores the rise of tourism, urban branding, and citizen activism. She considers artists working in the margins, from the East Baltimore poets writing in Chicory, a community magazine funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity, to a young John Waters, who shot his early low-budget movies on the streets, guerrilla-style. She also investigates more mainstream art, from the teen dance sensation The Buddy Deane Show to the comedy-drama Roc to the crime show The Wire, from Anne Tyler's award-winning book The Accidental Tourist to Barry Levinson's movie classic Diner.

The Metropolitan Revolution

The Metropolitan Revolution PDF Author: Jon C. Teaford
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231510934
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
In this absorbing history, Jon C. Teaford traces the dramatic evolution of American metropolitan life. At the end of World War II, the cities of the Northeast and the Midwest were bustling, racially and economically integrated areas frequented by suburban and urban dwellers alike. Yet since 1945, these cities have become peripheral to the lives of most Americans. "Edge cities" are now the dominant centers of production and consumption in post-suburban America. Characterized by sprawling freeways, corporate parks, and homogeneous malls and shopping centers, edge cities have transformed the urban landscape of the United States. Teaford surveys metropolitan areas from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt and the way in which postwar social, racial, and cultural shifts contributed to the decline of the central city as a hub of work, shopping, transportation, and entertainment. He analyzes the effects of urban flight in the 1950s and 1960s, the subsequent growth of the suburbs, and the impact of financial crises and racial tensions. He then brings the discussion into the present by showing how the recent wave of immigration from Latin America and Asia has further altered metropolitan life and complicated the black-white divide. Engaging in original research and interpretation, Teaford tells the story of this fascinating metamorphosis.

The Rough Road to Renaissance

The Rough Road to Renaissance PDF Author: Jon C. Teaford
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
Teaford (history, Purdue U.) describes efforts in twelve older central cities in the Northeast and Midwest to achieve revitalization during the period from 1940 to 1985. Focusing on local rather than state or federal perspectives, he explores the changing trends in city politics and municipal finance as well as other policies in pursuit of urban renaissance. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Baltimore Revisited

Baltimore Revisited PDF Author: P. Nicole King
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813594014
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
Nicknamed both “Mobtown” and “Charm City” and located on the border of the North and South, Baltimore is a city of contradictions. From media depictions in The Wire to the real-life trial of police officers for the murder of Freddie Gray, Baltimore has become a quintessential example of a struggling American city. Yet the truth about Baltimore is far more complicated—and more fascinating. To help untangle these apparent paradoxes, the editors of Baltimore Revisited have assembled a collection of over thirty experts from inside and outside academia. Together, they reveal that Baltimore has been ground zero for a slew of neoliberal policies, a place where inequality has increased as corporate interests have eagerly privatized public goods and services to maximize profits. But they also uncover how community members resist and reveal a long tradition of Baltimoreans who have fought for social justice. The essays in this collection take readers on a tour through the city’s diverse neighborhoods, from the Lumbee Indian community in East Baltimore to the crusade for environmental justice in South Baltimore. Baltimore Revisited examines the city’s past, reflects upon the city’s present, and envisions the city’s future.

Affordable Housing in US Shrinking Cities

Affordable Housing in US Shrinking Cities PDF Author: Silverman, Robert Mark
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447327594
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Given the rapid urbanisation of the world’s population, the converse phenomenon of shrinking cities is often overlooked and little understood. Yet with almost one in ten post-industrial US cities shrinking in recent years, efforts by government and anchor institutions to regenerate these cities is gaining policy urgency, with the availability and siting of affordable housing being a key concern. This is the first book to look at the reasons for the failure (and success) of affordable housing experiences in the fastest shrinking cities in the US. Applying quantitative and GIS analysis using data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the authors make recommendations for future place-based siting practices, stressing its importance for ensuring more equitable urban revitalisation. The book will be a valuable resource for academic researchers and students in urban studies, housing and inequality, as well as policy makers.

When Tenants Claimed the City

When Tenants Claimed the City PDF Author: Roberta Gold
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252095987
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
In postwar America, not everyone wanted to move out of the city and into the suburbs. For decades before World War II, New York's tenants had organized to secure renters' rights. After the war, tenant activists raised the stakes by challenging the newly-dominant ideal of homeownership in racially segregated suburbs. They insisted that renters as well as owners had rights to stable, well-maintained homes, and they proposed that racially diverse urban communities held a right to remain in place--a right that outweighed owners' rights to raise rents, redevelop properties, or exclude tenants of color. Further, the activists asserted that women could participate fully in the political arenas where these matters were decided. Grounded in archival research and oral history, When Tenants Claimed the City: The Struggle for Citizenship in New York City Housing shows that New York City's tenant movement made a significant claim to citizenship rights that came to accrue, both ideologically and legally, to homeownership in postwar America. Roberta Gold emphasizes the centrality of housing to the racial and class reorganization of the city after the war; the prominent role of women within the tenant movement; and their fostering of a concept of "community rights" grounded in their experience of living together in heterogeneous urban neighborhoods.

Taking the Train

Taking the Train PDF Author: Joe Austin
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231111423
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Traces the history of graffiti in New York City against the backdrop of the struggle that developed between the city and the writers.