Small Cities USA: Growth, Diversity, and Inequality - Softcover

Norman, Jon R

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813552788 ISBN 13: 9780813552781

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2013

Synopsis

While journalists document the decline of small-town America and scholars describe the ascent of such global cities as New York and Los Angeles, the fates of little cities remain a mystery. What about places like Providence, Rhode Island; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Laredo, Texas; and Salinas, California-the smaller cities that constitute much of America’s urban landscape? In Small Cities USA, Jon R. Norman examines how such places have fared in the wake of the large-scale economic, demographic, and social changes that occurred in the latter part of the twentieth century.

Drawing on an assessment of eighty small cities between 1970 and 2000, Norman considers the factors that have altered the physical, social, and economic landscapes of such places. These cities are examined in relation to new patterns of immigration, shifts in the global economy, and changing residential preferences. Small Cities USA presents the first large-scale comparison of smaller cities over time in the United States, showing that small cities that have prospered over time have done so because of diverse populations and economies. These "glocal" cities, as Norman calls them, are doing well without necessarily growing into large metropolises.

About this title

About the Author

JON R. NORMAN is an assistant professor in the department of sociology and the graduate program in urban affairs and public policy at Loyola University, Chicago. His work has appeared in Sociological Focus, Afterschool Matters, Method and Theory in Religion, and the Journal of Religion and Society.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813552788
• ISBN 13: 9780813552781
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208