The history and ever-changing status of "downtown" in the United States is far more complicated than Petula Clark's hit single ever let on. From the late 19th century, American cities were built and structured around the notion of "downtown"—a specific area dedicated to business, entertainment and cultural activity. But economies changed, residences began to move further from the city center and the loci of urban experience shifted. Fogelson (The Fragmented Metropolis), an MIT professor of urban studies and history, delves beneath these surface phenomena to recover the huge forces at play. His comprehensive, superlative study charts fights over public transportation (subways could take people away from the center as well as bring them there); the devastating effects of the depression and of World War II; and the "invention" of the concept of urban blight, promoted as a precursor to "redevelopment." Exceedingly provocative as well as informative, this study explores everything from the availability of light and air in the age of the elevated to the "parking ban" of downtown Chicago, and makes a vital contribution to the study of American life. (Oct.)
Forecast:While extensively footnoted, this book reads like an extremely thoughtful trade book. If hand-sold to history and city buffs, it could reach beyond the academic market of libraries and syllabi, where it should be a steady seller.
