Small Cities USA: Growth, Diversity, and Inequality

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Green Bay, Wisconsin, according to many, is not much to look at. Yet as someone interested in the built environment, in the development of urban places, and in how people solve collective problems, particularly in relation to the two preceding concerns, I have continually been fascinated by my hometown. While I could not wait to escape what I considered to be the mundane and provincial atmosphere of Green Bay when I was a teenager , in retrospect I see that it provided many wonderful opportunities and experiences to me as a young person. Once I left Green Bay, I began to see what was unique about it—though perhaps this perspective was viewed through rose-colored glasses, since I have not lived there in nearly twenty years. Green Bay is a big city in its own neck of the woods, but it has a smalltown feeling as you drive its streets. Smaller cities, as I write in this book, present an alternative urban experience from larger ones. This particular small city shaped me into the person I am today. And nearly as important, the peculiarities of Green Bay, which I began to take note of once I left the city, fueled a research agenda that culminated in this project. This book is about small cities. Urban sociologists and others interested in urban change have generally ignored smaller places, and I view this book as a step toward ameliorating that blind spot. Small cities such as Green Bay may lack the glamour of New York City and Los Angeles, but that does not mean that they are not worthwhile objects of study. But in addition to putting these places on scholars’ maps, this book is also an argument for expanding how we do urban sociology. This book examines eighty small metro areas across time, starting in 1970. Much urban sociology these days focuses on small numbers of places that are studied indepth , often synchronically. Studies of that nature are incredibly useful for ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS helping us understand the details of how large- and small-scale changes affect particular places. But we also need to pay attention to how classes of places change, particularly over time. This book is, I hope, an opening salvo in a campaign to enrich the study of urban areas by studying places according to common characteristics. This book was written while I had the privilege of teaching at Loyola University Chicago. The sociology department there was a wonderful place to be as I expanded upon the original research of this project, and course releases offered me valuable time for working on the book manuscript. Funding from the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University Chicago also assisted in completion of this project. Japonica Brown-Saracino, a dear friend and colleague who is now at Boston University, read early versions of various chapters and provided useful critiques and suggestions that have improved the text. I also thank her for the times when we simply talked over coffee about my project, her book, our classes, and the other miscellany that contribute to life. Jennifer Barrett, now at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands, perked me up repeatedly when I was overwhelmed by this project. Mary Byrnes, now at Marygrove College, was always available with a smile and an infectious laugh that helped me through writer’s block and moved me forward to getting my work done. I thank them for being gracious colleagues and friends. I benefited from conversations with other colleagues at Loyola in a variety of ways. Kelly Moore, Anne Figert, Judy Wittner, Rhys Williams, and Marilyn Krogh all helped me in various ways, often by simply being good colleagues who buoyed me through the many unknowns that young scholars encounter in their early years. Kelly Moore was a particularly strong supporter of my endeavors, and I thank her for her unwavering support. I thank my research assistant, Robin Bartram, for her excellent help with preparing this manuscript. Robin demonstrated the intellect, tenacity, and attention to detail that ensures that she will be a highly productive scholar, and I look forward to helping her along in that process. Research assistant Bill Byrnes also provided help with formatting the tables and text. At the University of California, Berkeley, Claude Fischer, an outstanding scholar and mentor, provided timely and useful feedback, sage advice, and support as I stumbled through the initial phases of constructing this project. Mike Hout generously spent much time discussing the complex [3...