Overview

Cities, Sagebrush, and Solitude explores the transformation of the largest desert in North America, the Great Basin, into America’s last urban frontier. In recent decades Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake City, and Boise have become the anchors for sprawling metropolitan regions. This population explosion has been fueled by the maturing of Las Vegas as the nation’s entertainment capital, the rise of Reno as a magnet for multitudes of California expatriates, the development of Salt Lake City’s urban corridor along the Wasatch Range, and the growth of Boise’s celebrated high-tech economy and hip urban culture. The blooming of cities in a fragile desert region poses a host of environmental challenges. The policies required to manage their impact, however, often collide with an entrenched political culture that has long resisted cooperative or governmental effort. The alchemical mixture of three ingredients--cities, aridity, and a libertarian political outlook--makes the Great Basin a compelling place to study. This book addresses a pressing question: are large cities ultimately sustainable in such a fragile environment?

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9780874179699

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It s lively, nimble, often unexpected, and informative. Its core theme is the growth of four urban centers around the perimeter of the Great Basin. Two Salt Lake City and Reno have significant historical roots. Two Las Vegas and Boise are largely postwar inventions. Each has a different story All in all, consider <i>Cities, Sagebrush, and Solitude</i> to be a good introduction to the region, something between a briefing paper and an academic Lonely Planet guide to an exotic patch of western America. Utah Historical Quarterly

If you want tolearn more about the past and present of theInterior West, read this book. -- Western Historical Quarterly --Richard Francaviglia Western Historical Quarterly

It s lively, nimble, often unexpected, and informative. Its core theme is the growth of four urban centers around the perimeter of the Great Basin. Two Salt Lake City and Reno have significant historical roots. Two Las Vegas and Boise are largely postwar inventions. Each has a different story All in all, consider Cities, Sagebrush, and Solitude to be a good introduction to the region, something between a briefing paper and an academic Lonely Planet guide to an exotic patch of western America. Utah Historical Quarterly In this well-organized and effectively written anthology, a dozen essays offer varied perspectives on an enduring theme of the Intermountain West: the coexistence of lightly populated countryside and densely settled cities. If you want to learn more about the past and present of the Inetrior West, read this book. Western Historical Quarterly If you want tolearn more about the past and present of theInterior West, read this book. -- Western Historical Quarterly--Richard Francaviglia Western Historical Quarterly

Author Information

Dennis R. Judd is a professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. He has published numerous books, including City Politics: The Political Economy of Urban America. Stephanie L. Witt is a professor of public policy and administration at Boise State University, USA. Her publications include Urban West: Governing Cities in Uncertain Times, coauthored with James B. Weatherby.

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