Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jon C. Teaford (Purdue University)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Edition:   third edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.340kg
ISBN:  

9781421420387

ISBN 10:   1421420384
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   10 November 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

"Preface 1. Problem, Promise, and Reality 2. The Century Begins, 1900–1919 The Downtown The Neighborhoods Righting the Urban Wrongs 3. Promises Thwarted The Failure of Moral Reform The Failure of Political Reform The Imperfect Mosaic Automobiles and the Promise of Suburbia 4. An Interlude in Urban Development, 1930–1945 The Depression The Federal Response The Wartime City 5. Suburbia Triumphant, 1945–1964 Suburban Boom Central-City Bust Reviving the Central City 6. An Age of ""Urban Crisis,"" 1964–1979 Rebellion and Crime Washington's Response to Urban Crisis The Fiscal Crisis The New Ethnic Politics 7. Toward a New Metropolis, 1980 and Beyond Renaissance or Bust The New Ethnic Mosaic The Post-suburban Metropolis 8. The Turn-of-the-Century City Revival amid the Ruins Stopping Sprawl Bibliographical Essay Index"

Reviews

The book has much to recommend it as a supplementary textbook for a number of urban and historical geography courses. --Progress in Human Geography Teaford has written an exceptionally useful book for undergraduate teaching. His discussion of American cities in the twentieth century is built around clear interpretive themes that students should quickly recognize and to which they can reasonably be asked to respond... This is a book well designed for undergraduate use. --History Teacher This book has value for all students of modern urban America. Do I plan to use it for my own urban history course? Yes, most definitely. --Indiana Magazine of History A lively, thoughtful, and well-written book that should prove to be exciting for the undergraduate student and useful also for the well-read scholar. --History

The book has much to recommend it as a supplementary textbook for a number of urban and historical geography courses. --Progress in Human Geography This book has value for all students of modern urban America. Do I plan to use it for my own urban history course? Yes, most definitely. --Indiana Magazine of History A lively, thoughtful, and well-written book that should prove to be exciting for the undergraduate student and useful also for the well-read scholar. --History Teaford has written an exceptionally useful book for undergraduate teaching. His discussion of American cities in the twentieth century is built around clear interpretive themes that students should quickly recognize and to which they can reasonably be asked to respond... This is a book well designed for undergraduate use. --History Teacher

This book has value for all students of modern urban America. Do I plan to use it for my own urban history course? Yes, most definitely. --Indiana Magazine of History The book has much to recommend it as a supplementary textbook for a number of urban and historical geography courses. --Progress in Human Geography A lively, thoughtful, and well-written book that should prove to be exciting for the undergraduate student and useful also for the well-read scholar. --History Teaford has written an exceptionally useful book for undergraduate teaching. His discussion of American cities in the twentieth century is built around clear interpretive themes that students should quickly recognize and to which they can reasonably be asked to respond... This is a book well designed for undergraduate use. --History Teacher

Author Information

Jon C. Teaford is professor emeritus of history at Purdue University. He is the author of Rough Road to Renaissance: Urban Revitalization in America, 1940-1985, The Metropolitan Revolution: The Rise of Post-Urban America, and The American Suburb: The Basics.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions