LEADER 00000cam  22004938i 4500 
001    ocn862780455 
003    OCoLC 
005    20140723100457.0 
008    140106s2014    enk      b    001 0 eng   
010      2013044642 
020    9780199973668|q(hardback) 
020    0199973660|q(hardback) 
035    (OCoLC)862780455 
040    DLC|beng|erda|cDLC|dYDXCP|dBTCTA|dBDX|dSTJ 
042    pcc 
043    n-us--- 
049    STJJ 
050 00 HT175|b.C637 2014 
082 00 307.3/4160973|223 
084    HIS036060|aHIS054000|2bisacsh 
100 1  Conn, Steven. 
245 10 Americans against the city :|banti-urbanism in the 
       twentieth century /|cSteven Conn. 
263    1408 
264  1 Oxford :|bOxford University Press, USA,|c[2014] 
300    pages cm 
336    text|2rdacontent 
337    unmediated|2rdamedia 
338    volume|2rdacarrier 
504    Includes bibliographical references and index. 
505 0  1. Anti-urbanism : an American tradition -- 2. America's 
       urban moment arrives -- 3. The center should not hold : 
       decentralizing the city in the 1920s and '30s -- 4. New 
       Deal, new towns : the anti-urban New Deal -- 5. Looking 
       for alternatives to the city : the past and the folk -- 6.
       The center did not hold : the city in the age of urban 
       renewal -- 7. The triumph of the decentralized city -- 8. 
       Small town, new town, commune -- 9. New communities, new 
       urbanisms -- Afterword : urbanism as a way of life. 
520    "It is a paradox of American life that we are a highly 
       urbanized nation filled with people deeply ambivalent 
       about urban life. An aversion to urban density and all 
       that it contributes to urban life, and a perception that 
       the city was the place where "big government" first took 
       root in America fostered what historian Steven Conn terms 
       the "anti-urban impulse." In response, anti-urbanists 
       called for the decentralization of the city, and rejected 
       the role of government in American life in favor of a 
       return to the pioneer virtues of independence and self-
       sufficiency. In this provocative and sweeping book, Conn 
       explores the anti-urban impulse across the 20th century, 
       examining how the ideas born of it have shaped both the 
       places in which Americans live and work, and the anti-
       government politics so strong today. Beginning in the 
       booming industrial cities of the Progressive era at the 
       turn of the 20th century, where debate surrounding these 
       questions first arose, Conn examines the progression of 
       anti-urban movements. : He describes the decentralist 
       movement of the 1930s, the attempt to revive the American 
       small town in the mid-century, the anti-urban basis of 
       urban renewal in the 1950s and '60s, and the Nixon 
       administration's program of building new towns as a 
       response to the urban crisis, illustrating how, by the 
       middle of the 20th century, anti-urbanism was at the 
       center of the politics of the New Right. Concluding with 
       an exploration of the New Urbanist experiments at the turn
       of the 21st century, Conn demonstrates the full breadth of
       the anti-urban impulse, from its inception to the present 
       day. Engagingly written, thoroughly researched, and 
       forcefully argued, Americans Against the City is important
       reading for anyone who cares not just about the history of
       our cities, but about their future as well"--|cProvided by
       publisher. 
520    "It is a paradox of American life that we are a highly 
       urbanized nation filled with people deeply ambivalent 
       about urban life. In this provocative and sweeping book, 
       historian Steven Conn explores the "anti-urban impulse" 
       across the 20th century and examines how those ideas have 
       shaped the places Americans have lived and worked, and how
       they have shaped the anti-government politics so strong 
       today. As Conn describes it, the anti-urban impulse has 
       had two parts: first, an aversion to urban density and all
       that it contributes to urban life, especially social 
       diversity, and second, a perception that the city was the 
       place where "big government" first took root in America. 
       In response, in varying ways across the 20th century, anti
       -urbanists called for the decentralization of the city, 
       both its population and its economy, and they rejected the
       role of government in American life in favor of a return 
       to the pioneer virtues of independence and self-
       sufficiency. In this way, by the middle of the 20th 
       century anti-urbanism was at the center of the politics of
       the New Right. Conn starts in the booming industrial 
       cities of the Progressive era at the turn of the 20th 
       century, where these questions first began to be debated, 
       and ends with some of the New Urbanist experiments of the 
       turn of the 21st. Along the way he examines the 
       decentralist movement of the 1930s, the attempt to revive 
       the American small town in the mid-century, the anti-urban
       basis of urban renewal in the 1950s and '60s, and the 
       Nixon Administration's program of building new towns as a 
       response to the urban crisis. Engagingly written, 
       thoroughly researched and forcefully argued, Americans 
       Against the City is important reading for anyone who cares
       not just about the history of our cities, but also about 
       their future"--|cProvided by publisher. 
650  0 Urban renewal|zUnited States|xHistory. 
650  0 Urbanization|zUnited States|xHistory. 
650  0 Decentralization in government|zUnited States|xHistory. 
650  0 Urbanization. 
650  0 Decentralization in government|zUnited States. 
650  7 HISTORY / United States / 20th Century.|2bisacsh 
650  7 HISTORY / Social History.|2bisacsh 
938    YBP Library Services|bYANK|n11337308 
938    Baker and Taylor|bBTCP|nBK0014002612 
938    Brodart|bBROD|n107869306 
994    11|bSTJ