City-building in America

Why do some cities expand, while others decline? Why is Milwaukee a town of the past, while Minneapolis-St. Paul seems reborn, infused with future dynamism? What do these cities have to tell us about other cities' prospects? Interspersing social theory, historical ethnography, and comparative analysis, Orum tells the story of these cities and, at the same time, of all cities.

He traces the shift in the sources of urban growth from entrepreneurs to institutions, highlighting the emergence of local government as a prominent force in shaping the complex trajectory of the urban industrial heartland. Lucidly portrayed are the factory openings, labor strikes, elections, evictions, urban blight, white flight, recession, and rejuvenation that shape American cities.

With a rich variety of sources including newspapers, diaries, census material, maps, photo essays, and original oral histories, this book is ideal for students of urban and industrial sociology, urban politics, social change, and social mobility.