The 20th-Century American City
Problem, Promise & Reality
Reeks: The American Moment
Jon C. Teaford
- An
- updated
- edition
- of
- the
- essential
- text
- from
- “a
- respected
- urban
- historian”
- (Annals
- of
- Iowa).Throughout
- the
- twentieth
- century,
- the
- city
- was
- deemed
- a
- problematic
- space,
- one
- that
- Americans
- urgently
- needed
- to
- improve.
- Although
- cities
- from
- New
- York
- to
- Los
- Angeles
- served
- as
- grand
- monuments
- to
- wealth
- and
- enterprise,
- they
- also
- reflected
- the
- social
- and
- economic
- fragmentation
- of
- the
- nation.
- Race,
- ethnicity,
- and
- class
- splintered
- the
- metropolis
- both
- literally
- and
- figuratively,
- thwarting
- efforts
- to
- create
- a
- harmonious
- whole.
- The
- urban
- landscape
- revealed
- what
- was
- right—and
- wrong—with
- both
- the
- country
- and
- its
- citizens’
- way
- of
- life.In
- this
- thoroughly
- revised
- edition
- of
- his
- highly
- acclaimed
- book,
- Jon
- C.
- Teaford
- updates
- the
- story
- of
- urban
- America
- by
- expanding
- his
- discussion
- to
- cover
- the
- end
- of
- the
- twentieth
- century
- and
- the
- first
- years
- of
- the
- next
- millennium.
- A
- new
- chapter
- on
- urban
- revival
- initiatives
- at
- the
- close
- of
- the
- century
- focuses
- on
- the
- fight
- over
- suburban
- sprawl
- as
- well
- as
- the
- mixed
- success
- of
- reimagining
- historic
- urban
- cores
- as
- hip
- new
- residential
- and
- cultural
- hubs.
- The
- book
- also
- explores
- the
- effects
- of
- the
- late-century
- immigration
- boom
- from
- Latin
- America
- and
- Asia,
- which
- has
- complicated
- the
- metropolitan
- ethnic
- portrait.Drawing
- on
- wide-ranging
- primary
- and
- secondary
- sources,
- Teaford
- describes
- the
- complex
- social,
- political,
- economic,
- and
- physical
- development
- of
- US
- urban
- areas
- over
- the
- course
- of
- the
- long
- twentieth
- century.
- Touching
- on
- aging
- central
- cities,
- technoburbs,
- and
- the
- ongoing
- conflict
- between
- inner-city
- poverty
- and
- urban
- boosterism,
- The
- Twentieth-Century
- American
- City
- offers
- a
- broad,
- accessible
- overview
- of
- America’s
- persistent
- struggle
- for
- a
- better city.
