Bryant Simon
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195167535
- eISBN:
- 9780199789016
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167535.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
During the first half of the 20th century, Atlantic City was the nation's most popular middle-class resort — the home of the famed Boardwalk, the Miss America Pageant, and the board game Monopoly. By ...
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During the first half of the 20th century, Atlantic City was the nation's most popular middle-class resort — the home of the famed Boardwalk, the Miss America Pageant, and the board game Monopoly. By the late 1960s, it had become a symbol of urban decay and blight. Several decades and a dozen casinos later, Atlantic City is again one of America's most popular tourist spots, with thirty-five million visitors a year. Yet most stay for a mere six hours, the city doesn't have a single movie theater and its one supermarket is a virtual fortress. This book uses the case of Atlantic City to discuss the boundaries of public space in urban America. It argues that in the past public space was not about democracy but about exclusion. During Atlantic City's heyday, African Americans were kept off the Boardwalk and away from the beaches. Desegregation overturned this racial balance in the mid-1960s, making the city's public spaces more open and democratic and many middle-class Americans fled to suburban-style resorts such as Disneyworld. With the opening of the city's first casino in 1978, the urban balance once again shifted and tourists were deliberately kept away from the city's grim reality and its predominantly poor African American residents. The narrative of this book points to the troubling fate of urban America, and the observations and conclusions of this book to implications for those interested in urban studies, sociology, planning, architecture, and history.Less
During the first half of the 20th century, Atlantic City was the nation's most popular middle-class resort — the home of the famed Boardwalk, the Miss America Pageant, and the board game Monopoly. By the late 1960s, it had become a symbol of urban decay and blight. Several decades and a dozen casinos later, Atlantic City is again one of America's most popular tourist spots, with thirty-five million visitors a year. Yet most stay for a mere six hours, the city doesn't have a single movie theater and its one supermarket is a virtual fortress. This book uses the case of Atlantic City to discuss the boundaries of public space in urban America. It argues that in the past public space was not about democracy but about exclusion. During Atlantic City's heyday, African Americans were kept off the Boardwalk and away from the beaches. Desegregation overturned this racial balance in the mid-1960s, making the city's public spaces more open and democratic and many middle-class Americans fled to suburban-style resorts such as Disneyworld. With the opening of the city's first casino in 1978, the urban balance once again shifted and tourists were deliberately kept away from the city's grim reality and its predominantly poor African American residents. The narrative of this book points to the troubling fate of urban America, and the observations and conclusions of this book to implications for those interested in urban studies, sociology, planning, architecture, and history.
Bryant Simon
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195167535
- eISBN:
- 9780199789016
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167535.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
By the 1970s, Atlantic City had become almost a parody of the American Dream. The city's neighborhoods were now made up of cracked sidewalks, houses desperate for new paint, and storefronts ...
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By the 1970s, Atlantic City had become almost a parody of the American Dream. The city's neighborhoods were now made up of cracked sidewalks, houses desperate for new paint, and storefronts barricaded with steel bars. Along the Boardwalk, Going Out of Business signs stretched across the fronts of once-elegant linen shops; movie marquees advertised films long gone. Atlantic City locals and faithful visitors have varying theories for the city's decline. Their narratives of decay give insight into the complexity of urban problems and are interesting for how they link seemingly mundane and unrelated shifts in commerce and technology to changes in people's leisure choices and vacation desires.Less
By the 1970s, Atlantic City had become almost a parody of the American Dream. The city's neighborhoods were now made up of cracked sidewalks, houses desperate for new paint, and storefronts barricaded with steel bars. Along the Boardwalk, Going Out of Business signs stretched across the fronts of once-elegant linen shops; movie marquees advertised films long gone. Atlantic City locals and faithful visitors have varying theories for the city's decline. Their narratives of decay give insight into the complexity of urban problems and are interesting for how they link seemingly mundane and unrelated shifts in commerce and technology to changes in people's leisure choices and vacation desires.
Nicole M. Ardoin, Alan Reid, Heila Lotz-Sisitka, and Édgar J. González Gaudian
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501705823
- eISBN:
- 9781501712791
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501705823.003.0032
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
This book has discussed academic debates and practices in urban environmental education. It has highlighted challenges and opportunities facing the field of environmental education in general and ...
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This book has discussed academic debates and practices in urban environmental education. It has highlighted challenges and opportunities facing the field of environmental education in general and educators working in urban areas in particular. It has examined how the unique features of cities—as places facing major environmental and justice issues yet also as hubs of innovation—influence environmental education goals and implementation. Urban planning, social justice, climate change, and social-ecological systems resilience are areas environmental education has addressed in the past, but which are becoming increasingly salient for environmental education in cities. This afterword urges environmental educators to: First, challenge the urban/rural binary by recognizing and critiquing processes such as urban decay, suburban sprawl, migration, and gentrification. Second, spend time in the field—or, more accurately, in the streets— in order to understand urban settings in a deeper, more embodied way.Less
This book has discussed academic debates and practices in urban environmental education. It has highlighted challenges and opportunities facing the field of environmental education in general and educators working in urban areas in particular. It has examined how the unique features of cities—as places facing major environmental and justice issues yet also as hubs of innovation—influence environmental education goals and implementation. Urban planning, social justice, climate change, and social-ecological systems resilience are areas environmental education has addressed in the past, but which are becoming increasingly salient for environmental education in cities. This afterword urges environmental educators to: First, challenge the urban/rural binary by recognizing and critiquing processes such as urban decay, suburban sprawl, migration, and gentrification. Second, spend time in the field—or, more accurately, in the streets— in order to understand urban settings in a deeper, more embodied way.
Andrew Demshuk
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781501751660
- eISBN:
- 9781501751684
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501751660.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Russian and Former Soviet Union History
This book illuminates how civic life functioned in Leipzig, East Germany's second-largest city, on the eve of the 1989 revolution by exploring acts of “urban ingenuity” amid catastrophic urban decay. ...
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This book illuminates how civic life functioned in Leipzig, East Germany's second-largest city, on the eve of the 1989 revolution by exploring acts of “urban ingenuity” amid catastrophic urban decay. The book profiles the creative activism of local communist officials who, with the help of scores of volunteers, constructed a palatial bowling alley without Berlin's knowledge or approval. In a city mired in disrepair, civic pride overcame resentment against a regime loathed for corruption, Stasi spies, and the Berlin Wall. Reconstructing such episodes through interviews and obscure archival materials, the book shows how the public sphere functioned in Leipzig before the fall of communism. Hardly detached or inept, local officials worked around centralized failings to build a more humane city. And hardly disengaged, residents turned to black-market construction to patch up their surroundings. Because such “urban ingenuity” was premised on weakness in the centralized regime, the dystopian cityscape evolved from being merely a quotidian grievance to the backdrop for revolution. If, by their actions, officials were demonstrating that the regime was irrelevant, and if, in their own experiences, locals only attained basic repairs outside official channels, why should anyone have mourned the system when it was overthrown?Less
This book illuminates how civic life functioned in Leipzig, East Germany's second-largest city, on the eve of the 1989 revolution by exploring acts of “urban ingenuity” amid catastrophic urban decay. The book profiles the creative activism of local communist officials who, with the help of scores of volunteers, constructed a palatial bowling alley without Berlin's knowledge or approval. In a city mired in disrepair, civic pride overcame resentment against a regime loathed for corruption, Stasi spies, and the Berlin Wall. Reconstructing such episodes through interviews and obscure archival materials, the book shows how the public sphere functioned in Leipzig before the fall of communism. Hardly detached or inept, local officials worked around centralized failings to build a more humane city. And hardly disengaged, residents turned to black-market construction to patch up their surroundings. Because such “urban ingenuity” was premised on weakness in the centralized regime, the dystopian cityscape evolved from being merely a quotidian grievance to the backdrop for revolution. If, by their actions, officials were demonstrating that the regime was irrelevant, and if, in their own experiences, locals only attained basic repairs outside official channels, why should anyone have mourned the system when it was overthrown?
Joseph C. Ewoodzie Jr.
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469632759
- eISBN:
- 9781469632773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469632759.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
Chapter 1 presents an overview of the historical context in which hip hop emerged. The first section describes the social and economic context of the South Bronx during the 1970s, drawing on ...
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Chapter 1 presents an overview of the historical context in which hip hop emerged. The first section describes the social and economic context of the South Bronx during the 1970s, drawing on scholarship from history and sociology, journalistic accounts, and historical documentaries. The second section provides story lines about the most popular social activities engaged in by youth at the time: graffiti-writing, DJing, and dancing. The final section provides an explanation of how, within a chaotic social environment, these somewhat divergent social activities were linked together to begin forming the new entity. It also explores the historical role of Kool DJ Herc. By focusing on Herc, it demonstrates how sociologists can refrain from portraying actors as heroic and self-motivated yet still acknowledge their pivotal role as historical figures.Less
Chapter 1 presents an overview of the historical context in which hip hop emerged. The first section describes the social and economic context of the South Bronx during the 1970s, drawing on scholarship from history and sociology, journalistic accounts, and historical documentaries. The second section provides story lines about the most popular social activities engaged in by youth at the time: graffiti-writing, DJing, and dancing. The final section provides an explanation of how, within a chaotic social environment, these somewhat divergent social activities were linked together to begin forming the new entity. It also explores the historical role of Kool DJ Herc. By focusing on Herc, it demonstrates how sociologists can refrain from portraying actors as heroic and self-motivated yet still acknowledge their pivotal role as historical figures.
Louis Parascandola
John Parascandola (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231165730
- eISBN:
- 9780231538190
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231165730.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This anthology focuses on the unique history and experience of Coney Island, a beloved fixture of the New York City landscape. It features a gallery of portraits by the world's finest poets, ...
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This anthology focuses on the unique history and experience of Coney Island, a beloved fixture of the New York City landscape. It features a gallery of portraits by the world's finest poets, essayists, and fiction writers. These include Walt Whitman, Stephen Crane, José Martí, Maxim Gorky, Federico García Lorca, Isaac Bashevis Singer, E. E. Cummings, Djuna Barnes, Colson Whitehead, Robert Olen Butler, and Katie Roiphe. Moody, mystical and enchanting, Coney Island has thrilled newcomers and soothed native New Yorkers for decades. As complex as the city of which it is a part, it is famous for its fantasy entertainments, world-class boardwalk and large beach and, even today, provides a welcome respite from the city's dense neighborhoods, unrelenting traffic and sombre grid layout. Coney Island has long offered a kaleidoscopic panorama of people, places and events, creating, as Lawrence Ferlinghetti once wrote, “a Coney Island of the mind.” This anthology captures the highs and lows of the place, with works that picture it as a restful resort, a playground for the masses and a symbol of America's democratic spirit, as well as a Sodom by the sea, a garish display of capitalist excess and a paradigm of urban decay.Less
This anthology focuses on the unique history and experience of Coney Island, a beloved fixture of the New York City landscape. It features a gallery of portraits by the world's finest poets, essayists, and fiction writers. These include Walt Whitman, Stephen Crane, José Martí, Maxim Gorky, Federico García Lorca, Isaac Bashevis Singer, E. E. Cummings, Djuna Barnes, Colson Whitehead, Robert Olen Butler, and Katie Roiphe. Moody, mystical and enchanting, Coney Island has thrilled newcomers and soothed native New Yorkers for decades. As complex as the city of which it is a part, it is famous for its fantasy entertainments, world-class boardwalk and large beach and, even today, provides a welcome respite from the city's dense neighborhoods, unrelenting traffic and sombre grid layout. Coney Island has long offered a kaleidoscopic panorama of people, places and events, creating, as Lawrence Ferlinghetti once wrote, “a Coney Island of the mind.” This anthology captures the highs and lows of the place, with works that picture it as a restful resort, a playground for the masses and a symbol of America's democratic spirit, as well as a Sodom by the sea, a garish display of capitalist excess and a paradigm of urban decay.
Anne Power, Jörg Plöger, and Astrid Winkler
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847426833
- eISBN:
- 9781447302964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847426833.003.0012
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter discusses the measurement of the recovery of the seven weak market cities featured in this volume. It explains that urban recovery is the progress of overcoming the problems associated ...
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This chapter discusses the measurement of the recovery of the seven weak market cities featured in this volume. It explains that urban recovery is the progress of overcoming the problems associated with economic restructuring and industrial decline, such as population loss, job losses, urban decay, and increasing social deprivation, and that it is the outcome of complex interaction of different factors. The chapter evaluates whether the recovery in the selected cities was real and if it could be supported by measurable evidence. It provides the overall ranking of the seven cities on quantitative and qualitative measures.Less
This chapter discusses the measurement of the recovery of the seven weak market cities featured in this volume. It explains that urban recovery is the progress of overcoming the problems associated with economic restructuring and industrial decline, such as population loss, job losses, urban decay, and increasing social deprivation, and that it is the outcome of complex interaction of different factors. The chapter evaluates whether the recovery in the selected cities was real and if it could be supported by measurable evidence. It provides the overall ranking of the seven cities on quantitative and qualitative measures.
Rebecca J. Kinney
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780816697564
- eISBN:
- 9781452955162
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816697564.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
The third chapter examines the story of Detroit’s rebirth through both a reliance on its storied past and the possibilities of the future through an examination of a wildly successful commercial ...
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The third chapter examines the story of Detroit’s rebirth through both a reliance on its storied past and the possibilities of the future through an examination of a wildly successful commercial starring Eminem. It provides the connective tissue between the storied past of Detroitas as a location of workers and the contemporary narrative of a city on the rise. At its center is the mythic tale provided by the 2011 Chrysler “Born of Fire” commercial. The narrative tale of a rebirth of a city, and by extension the American auto industry, in the face of epic decline makes the story of Detroit the ultimate comeback tale—a phoenix rising from the ashes of destruction.Less
The third chapter examines the story of Detroit’s rebirth through both a reliance on its storied past and the possibilities of the future through an examination of a wildly successful commercial starring Eminem. It provides the connective tissue between the storied past of Detroitas as a location of workers and the contemporary narrative of a city on the rise. At its center is the mythic tale provided by the 2011 Chrysler “Born of Fire” commercial. The narrative tale of a rebirth of a city, and by extension the American auto industry, in the face of epic decline makes the story of Detroit the ultimate comeback tale—a phoenix rising from the ashes of destruction.
