Small Towns and Big Business

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Author :
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 0739122401
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Small Towns and Big Business by : Stephen Halebsky

Download or read book Small Towns and Big Business written by Stephen Halebsky and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2009 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the 1990s, a new type of controversy began occurring across the United States: controversies over the siting of superstores, also known as big box stores. In these disputes, which often involved Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, local citizens mounted organized opposition to the proposed siting of a superstores in their town or neighborhood. Opponents criticized Wal-Mart superstores for putting local independent merchants out of business, siphoning money from the local economy, providing substandard jobs, disrupting residential neighborhoods, contributing to the "McDonaldization" of society, inducing sprawl, destroying downtowns and Main Streets, and undermining local uniqueness and small town charm. More generally, these David-and-Goliath controversies represented particularly stark examples of the conflict of interests between local communities and large corporations that have become common in contemporary society. Small Towns and Big Business uses fieldwork and archival sources to comprehensively examine these controversies and the underlying issues. While Wal-Mart is usually able to site its stores at its preferred locations, in some cases local opponents have been able to thwart its plans. Using detailed case studies of anti-superstore controversies in six small cities in five states, Halebsky employs a comparative-historical approach to construct an explanation of how some of these local social movements managed to prevail against Wal-Mart. This explanation is then extended to provide the basis for a model of the general conditions under which local communities may be able to constrain unwanted corporate action. Thus, this is both a study of social movement outcomes and an investigation of community-corporate conflict. Small Towns and Big Business provides insight into the potential of the local state to control large corporations, the inherently problematic nature of corporate retailing, the possibilities for resisting McDonaldization, and the fate of local anti-corporation activism. Book jacket.

Big-Box Swindle

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Author :
Publisher : Beacon Press
ISBN 13 : 9780807035016
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (35 download)

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Book Synopsis Big-Box Swindle by : Stacy Mitchell

Download or read book Big-Box Swindle written by Stacy Mitchell and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2007-10-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Book Sense Pick and Annual Highlight With a New Afterword In less than two decades, large retail chains have become the most powerful corporations in America. In this deft and revealing book, Stacy Mitchell illustrates how mega-retailers are fueling many of our most pressing problems, from the shrinking middle class to rising pollution and diminished civic engagement—and she shows how a growing number of communities and independent businesses are effectively fighting back. Mitchell traces the dramatic growth of mega-retailers—from big boxes like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Costco, and Staples to chains like Starbucks, Olive Garden, Blockbuster, and Old Navy—and the precipitous decline of independent businesses. Drawing on examples from virtually every state in the country, she unearths the extraordinary impact of these companies and the big-box mentality on everything from soaring gasoline consumption to rising poverty rates, failing family farms, and declining voting levels. Along the way, Mitchell exposes the shocking role government policy has played in the expansion of mega-retailers and builds a compelling case that communities composed of many small, locally owned businesses are healthier and more prosperous than those dominated by a few large chains. More than a critique, Big-Box Swindle provides an invigorating account of how some communities have successfully countered the spread of big boxes and rebuilt their local economies. Since 2000, more than two hundred big-box development projects have been halted by groups of ordinary citizens, and scores of towns and cities have adopted laws that favor small-scale, local business development and limit the proliferation of chains. From cutting-edge land-use policies to innovative cooperative small-business initiatives, Mitchell offers communities concrete strategies that can stave off mega-retailers and create a more prosperous and sustainable future.

Rebuilding the American Town

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Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1040157009
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (41 download)

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Book Synopsis Rebuilding the American Town by : David Gamble

Download or read book Rebuilding the American Town written by David Gamble and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-12-10 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the scholarship of urbanism, small towns are overlooked and understudied. Rebuilding the American Town highlights how smaller municipalities are transforming to serve their communities and meet the future. The book uncovers creative planning and design strategies of nine U.S. towns as they rebuild to remain vibrant, equitable and viable in the face of metropolitan sprawl, population shifts, political division, economic shortfalls and climate change. Rebuilding the American Town includes interviews and insights from those directly involved, to reveal the challenges and advantages of being a smaller city while highlighting the power of design at local levels. The book provides a new lens for contemporary urbanism more broadly as it shifts thinking away from large-metro concerns, toward novel, tactical strategies that advance the quality of life for residents through design and policies that are scaled to the populations and places they serve. The projects in this book show how the small town in the United States is unexpectedly progressive, experimental, urban and global.

Strong Towns

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119564816
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (195 download)

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Book Synopsis Strong Towns by : Charles L. Marohn, Jr.

Download or read book Strong Towns written by Charles L. Marohn, Jr. and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.

Big Box USA

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Author :
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
ISBN 13 : 1646425944
Total Pages : 182 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (464 download)

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Book Synopsis Big Box USA by : Bart Elmore

Download or read book Big Box USA written by Bart Elmore and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2024-04-15 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Big Box USA presents a new look at how the big box retail store has dramatically reshaped the US economy and its ecosystems in the last half century. From the rural South to the frigid North, from inside stores to ecologies far beyond, this book examines the relationships that make up one of the most visible features of late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century American life. The rise of big box retail since the 1960s has transformed environments on both local and global scales. Almost everyone has explored the aisles of big box stores. The allure of “everyday low prices” and brightly colored products of every kind connect shoppers with a global marketplace. Contributors join a growing conversation between business and environmental history, addressing the ways American retail institutions have affected physical and cultural ecologies around the world. Essays on Walmart, Target, Cabela’s, REI, and Bass Pro Shops assess the “bigness” of these superstores from “smokestacks to coat racks” and contend that their ecological impacts are not limited to the footprints of parking lots and manufacturing but also play a didactic role in educating consumers about their relationships with the environment. A model for historians seeking to bring business and environmental histories together in their analyses of merchant capital’s role in the landscapes of everyday life and how it has remade human relationships with nature, Big Box USA is a must-read for students and scholars of the environment, business, sustainability, retail professionals, and a general audience.

Small Town Economic Development

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Author :
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 0786476788
Total Pages : 303 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (864 download)

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Book Synopsis Small Town Economic Development by : Joaquin Jay Gonzalez III,

Download or read book Small Town Economic Development written by Joaquin Jay Gonzalez III, and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-05-24 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We tend to associate small town economic development with the decline of the rural United States--empty houses, shuttered shops and rusting factories. A common diagnosis of sluggish small town recovery is their lack of lifestyle amenities that attract new residents and businesses. Yet many small towns have shown progress and potential in recent years. This collection of recent articles by experts presents stories of small-town America's struggle and describes innovations and practices behind successful revivals.

An Equal Place

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190215933
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis An Equal Place by : Scott L. Cummings

Download or read book An Equal Place written by Scott L. Cummings and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Equal Place is a monumental study of the role of lawyers in the movement to challenge economic inequality in one of America's most unequal cities: Los Angeles. Breaking with the traditional focus on national civil rights history, the book turns to the stories of contemporary lawyers, on the front lines and behind the scenes, who use law to reshape the meaning of low-wage work in the local economy. Covering a transformative period of L.A. history, from the 1992 riots to the 2008 recession, Scott Cummings presents an unflinching account of five pivotal campaigns in which lawyers ally with local movements to challenge the abuses of garment sweatshops, the criminalization of day labor, the gentrification of downtown retail, the incursion of Wal-Mart groceries, and the misclassification of port truck drivers. Through these campaigns, lawyers and activists define the city as a space for redefining work in vital industries transformed by deindustrialization, outsourcing, and immigration. Organizing arises outside of traditional labor law, powered by community-labor and racial justice groups using levers of local government to ultimately change the nature of labor law itself. Cummings shows that sophisticated legal strategy engaging yet extending beyond courts, in which lawyers are equal partners in social movements is an indispensable part of the effort to make L.A. a more equal place. Challenging accounts of lawyers' negative impact on movements, Cummings argues that the L.A. campaigns have achieved meaningful reform, while strengthening the position of workers in local politics, through legal innovation. Dissecting the reasons for failure alongside the conditions for success, this groundbreaking book illuminates the crucial role of lawyers in forging a new model of city-building for the twenty-first century.

A Companion to Bordering on Madness, an American Land Use Tale, Second Edition

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 404 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis A Companion to Bordering on Madness, an American Land Use Tale, Second Edition by : Andrew F. Popper

Download or read book A Companion to Bordering on Madness, an American Land Use Tale, Second Edition written by Andrew F. Popper and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Companion to Bordering on Madness: An American Land Use Tale, Second Edition expands the issues raised in the novel using cases, scholarship and case studies. The text serves as a foundation to understand select doctrine, theory and strategy applicable to conflicts between developers and those who oppose development. Land use is an area in which law and government become personal, direct, immediate, and, quite literally, tangible. Land use cases set the parameters for the structures in which we live, the vistas (or lack thereof) we experience quite literally, the sights, sounds and air that surround us. The mission of this text is to provide a window into this dynamic field.

Planning in the USA

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136456910
Total Pages : 548 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (364 download)

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Book Synopsis Planning in the USA by : J. Barry Cullingworth

Download or read book Planning in the USA written by J. Barry Cullingworth and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-05 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This extensively revised and updated fourth edition of Planning in the USA continues to provide a comprehensive introduction to the policies, theory and practice of planning. Outlining land use, urban planning, and environmental protection policies, this fully illustrated book explains the nature of the planning process and the way in which policy issues are identified, defined, and approached. This full colour edition incorporates new planning legislation and regulations at the state and federal layers of government, updated discussion on current economic issues, and examples of local ordinances in a variety of planning areas. Key updates include: a new chapter on planning and sustainability; a new discussion on the role of foundations and giving to communities; a discussion regarding the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans; a discussion on deindustrialization and shrinking cities; a discussion on digital billboards; a discussion on recent comprehensive planning efforts; a discussion on land banking; a discussion unfunded mandates; a discussion on community character; a companion website with multiple choice and fill the blank questions, and ‘test yourself’ glossary terms. This book gives a detailed account of urbanization in the United States and reveals the problematic nature and limitations of the planning process, the fallibility of experts, and the difficulties facing policy-makers in their search for solutions. Planning in the USA is an essential book for students, planners and all who are concerned with the nature of contemporary urban and environmental problems.

Main Street Entrepreneur

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Author :
Publisher : Entrepreneur Press
ISBN 13 : 1613083408
Total Pages : 217 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Main Street Entrepreneur by : Michael Glauser

Download or read book Main Street Entrepreneur written by Michael Glauser and published by Entrepreneur Press. This book was released on 2016-05-16 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 100 Cities. 100 Entrepreneurs. 9 Keys for Success. Main Street Entrepreneur offers a unique look at what it takes to create a successful and thriving business. Lifelong entrepreneur, business consultant and university professor Michael Glauser rode 4,005 miles in 45 days, spent 246 hours on a bike seat, climbed 165,748 vertical feet, and interviewed more than 100 entrepreneurs in 100 cities along the way to discover the secrets to entrepreneurial success. Glauser has distilled hours of interviews and research to present the nine keys for: Building a purpose-driven business Meeting important community needs Developing a supporting cast Working with a zealous tenacity Giving mind-boggling customer service Diversifying revenue streams Giving back to the broader community And ultimately, creating the lifestyle of your dreams Readers will learn how to achieve their own dreams and won’t need a 30-page business plan, venture capital, or an exit strategy. All they need to do is implement nine keys for success. Not everyone can build a Facebook, Google or eBay, but anyone with passion and tenacity can do what these entrepreneurs all across America are doing.

The New Wealth of Cities

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351884999
Total Pages : 466 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (518 download)

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Book Synopsis The New Wealth of Cities by : John Montgomery

Download or read book The New Wealth of Cities written by John Montgomery and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past two decades, city economies have restructured in response to the decline of older industries. This has involved new forms of planning and urban economic development, a return to traditional concerns of city building and a focus on urban design. During this period, there has also been a marked rise in our understanding of cultural development and its role in the design, economy and life of cities. In this book, John Montgomery argues that this amounts to a shift in urban development. He provides a long overdue look at the dynamics of the city, that is, how cities work in relation to the long cycles of economic development and suggests that a new wave of prosperity, built on new technologies and new industries, is just getting underway in the Western world. The New Wealth of Cities focuses on what effect this will have on cities and city regions and how they should react. Original and wide-ranging, this book will be a definitive resource on city economies and urban planning, explaining why it is that cities develop over time in periods of propulsive growth and bouts of decline.

American Hometown Renewal

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Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1317509951
Total Pages : 508 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (175 download)

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Book Synopsis American Hometown Renewal by : Gary Mattson

Download or read book American Hometown Renewal written by Gary Mattson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before the interstates, Main Street America was the small town’s commercial spine and served as the linchpin for community social solidarity. Yet, during the past three decades, a series of economic downturns has left many of the great small cities barely viable. American Hometown Renewal is the first book to combine administrative, budgetary, and economic analysis to examine the economic and fiscal plight currently facing America’s small towns. Featuring a blend of theory, applications, and case studies, it provides a comprehensive, single-source textbook covering the key issues facing small town officials in today’s uncertain economy. Written by a former public manager, university professor, and consultant to numerous small towns in the Heartland, this book demonstrates the ways in which contemporary small towns throughout the nation are facing economic challenges brought about by the financial shocks that began in 2008. Each chapter explores a theme related to small town revival and provides a related tool or technique to enable small town officials to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Encouraging local small town officials to look at the economic orbit of communities in a similar manner as a town’s budget or a family’s personal wealth, examining its specific competitive advantages in terms of relative assets to those of competing communities, this book provides the reader with step-by-step instructions on how to conduct an asset inventory and apply key asset tools to devise a strategy for overcoming the challenges and constraints imposed upon spatially-fixed communities. American Hometown Renewal is an essential primer for students studying city management, economic community development, and city planning, and will be a trusted handbook for city managers, geographers, city planners, urban or rural sociologists, political scientists, and regional microeconomists.

The Making of a Market Guru

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470285427
Total Pages : 504 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis The Making of a Market Guru by : Aaron Anderson

Download or read book The Making of a Market Guru written by Aaron Anderson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-05-03 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ken Fisher is founder and CEO of Fisher Investments, an independent money management firm managing over $35 billion (as of Dec. 31/09) for individuals and institutions. And, Fisher has written the monthly "Portfolio Strategy" column for Forbes magazine for the last twenty-five years—since 1984—making him, so far, the fourth longest-running columnist in the magazine’s history. During this time, he’s seen everything from the stock market crash of 1987 and the great bull markets of the 1980s and 1990s to the Tech bubble of 2000 and the global market meltdown of 2008. Now, with The Making of a Market Guru, you’ll gain an insightful look at Fisher’s prolific career over the years and discover the high-profile market calls he’s made so far in these monthly columns. At times engaging and timely, at others revealing and informative, this book is a sweeping look at a recent and eventful slice of stock market history. You’ll read about what’s changed, but you’ll be more amazed by what hasn’t. And you’ll see investing wisdom that still applies, now and for the foreseeable future, from a quarter-century of Fisher’s concise and witty market wisdom. Preceding Fisher’s columns for each year are a few pages of commentary—putting them in historic context, pointing out areas that are still salient, and others where Fisher’s perspective has changed over the years—highlighting key points that deserve extra attention. Chapter by chapter, this book offers practical investment advice from a leading market voice, while: Looking at Fisher’s market analysis over the years and providing an industry insider’s view of major, and not-so-major, market events Examining how Fisher called three of the last four bear markets Showing that what many commonly think impacts markets doesn’t—and some very surprising things that do impact markets that few are aware of. And much more The more things change, the more they stay the same—at least when it comes to investing. And seeing history through the eyes of a market guru can help improve your overall investment endeavors today. If you take the time to read this unique, historic compilation, you’ll be taking your first steps to understanding how to become your own market guru.

The Complete Illustrated Book of Development Definitions

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 135148463X
Total Pages : 643 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (514 download)

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Book Synopsis The Complete Illustrated Book of Development Definitions by : Harvey S. Moskowitz

Download or read book The Complete Illustrated Book of Development Definitions written by Harvey S. Moskowitz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 643 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The latest edition of The Illustrated Book of Development Definitions breaks new ground. It addresses traditional and new planning problems: natural and industrial disasters such as hurricanes and oil spills; new housing types and living accommodations; changes in urban design and practice like new urbanism; sustainability; pedestrian and bicycle friendly environments; and more. Joining Harvey S. Moskowitz and Carl G. Lindbloom, authors of the first three editions, are two prominent, nationally known planners: David Listokin and Richard Preiss. Attorney Dwight H. Merriam adds legal annotations to almost all 2,276 definitions. These citations from court decisions bridge the gap between land use theory and real world application, bringing a new dimension to this edition. More than 20,000 copies of previous editions were sold over four decades to professionals and government representatives, such as members of planning and zoning boards and municipal governing bodies. This first revision in ten years updates what is widely acknowledged as an essential, standard reference for planners.

Wal-Mart World

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Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 0415951372
Total Pages : 426 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (159 download)

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Book Synopsis Wal-Mart World by : Stanley D. Brunn

Download or read book Wal-Mart World written by Stanley D. Brunn and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2006 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a billion shoppers worldwide, Wal-Mart World is the first book to look at this incredibly important phenomenon in global perspective, its broad scope makes it essential reading for anyone interested in the global impact of this economic colossus.

American Urban Form

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262300923
Total Pages : 195 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis American Urban Form by : Sam Bass Warner, Jr.

Download or read book American Urban Form written by Sam Bass Warner, Jr. and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2012-02-24 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated history of the American city's evolution from sparsely populated village to regional metropolis. American Urban Form—the spaces, places, and boundaries that define city life—has been evolving since the first settlements of colonial days. The changing patterns of houses, buildings, streets, parks, pipes and wires, wharves, railroads, highways, and airports reflect changing patterns of the social, political, and economic processes that shape the city. In this book, Sam Bass Warner and Andrew Whittemore map more than three hundred years of the American city through the evolution of urban form. They do this by offering an illustrated history of “the City”—a hypothetical city (constructed from the histories of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York) that exemplifies the American city's transformation from village to regional metropolis. In an engaging text accompanied by Whittemore's detailed, meticulous drawings, they chart the City's changes. Planning for the future of cities, they remind us, requires an understanding of the forces that shaped the city's past.

America at the Mall

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Author :
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 0786490500
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (864 download)

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Book Synopsis America at the Mall by : Lisa Scharoun

Download or read book America at the Mall written by Lisa Scharoun and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the construction of the first fully enclosed shopping center in 1952, the shopping mall has evolved into the heart of many suburban areas across the United States. More than simply a place to purchase goods, this veritable "temple of consumerism" has become a primary place for community and social interaction and an essential element in many citizens' day-to-day lives. This study explores the spiritual, emotional and physical effects of the enclosed shopping mall on the public, chronicling the growth of the mall, its role in shaping urban and suburban life, its positive and negative impacts on society and the environment, and its future viability. As this work shows, the mall remains rich in symbolic influence, and in many ways mirrors the American condition.