Synopses & Reviews
Greenport, New York, a village on the North Fork of Long Island, has become an exemplar of a little-noted national trend—immigrants spreading beyond the big coastal cities, driving much of rural population growth nationally. In
Village of Immigrants, Diana R. Gordon illustrates how small-town America has been revitalized by the arrival of these immigrants in Greenport, where she lives.
Greenport today boasts a population that is one-third Hispanic. Gordon contends that these immigrants have effectively saved the town’s economy by taking low-skill jobs, increasing the tax base, filling local schools, and patronizing local businesses. Greenport’s seaside beauty still attracts summer tourists, but it is only with the support of the local Latino workforce that elegant restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts are able to serve these visitors. For Gordon the picture is complex, because the wave of immigrants also presents the town with challenges to its services and institutions. Gordon’s portraits of local immigrants capture the positive and the negative, with a cast of characters ranging from a Guatemalan mother of three, including one child who is profoundly disabled, to a Colombian house painter with a successful business who cannot become licensed because he remains undocumented. Village of Immigrants weaves together these people’s stories, fears, and dreams to reveal an environment plagued by threats of deportation, debts owed to coyotes, low wages, and the other bleak realities that shape the immigrant experience—even in the charming seaport town of Greenport.
A timely contribution to the national dialogue on immigration, Gordon’s book shows the pivotal role the American small town plays in the ongoing American immigrant story—as well as how this booming population is shaping and reviving rural communities.
Review
andquot;Norman presents a thought-provoking and important analysis of an urban world often overlooked by most social science researchers. Those seeking to understand the future of metropolitan America would be wise to read this book.andquot;
Review
andquot;Norman attempts to fill a gap in the study of US urban regions by focusing exclusively on what he labels 'small cities,' those with a population of between 100,000 and 200,000. The changes in smaller cities are the results of a myriad of social forces, including globalization, immigration and internal migration, educational attainment, ethnic diversity, and economic opportunity, inequality, and diversification, among other factors. Though many of these variables have no doubt contributed to changes in large US cities, Norman
argues that the way in which they have influenced the development of small cities is more nuanced. As a result, scholars must develop new conceptualizations and theories that better reflect those subtleties. This book is one contribution toward that end. Recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;In
Small Cities USA, Norman surveys a largely overlooked segment of U.S. urban areas: cities that contain 100,000 to 200,000 people and that are not part of a larger metro area. Norman sees these places as an importantandmdash;and neglectedandmdash;piece of the urban puzzle.andquot;
Review
andquot;Normanandrsquo;s
Small Cities USA takes an important step toward reminding urban scholars of the importance of smaller cities. It is a welcome alternative to the deluge of global cities research and offers a clear and concise point of entry for those wanting to explore this neglected side of urban studies.andquot;
Review
"This beautifully written book tells what happens when small town America meets contemporary Latino immigration, an inspiring, yet also heartbreaking encounter between the American dream and the American dilemma. A compelling account and a deeply satisfying read."
Synopsis
Small Cities USA illustrates how smaller cities in the United States changed over the last third of the twentieth century by examining eighty similarly sized places (populations between 100,000 and 200,000) experienced divergent fates of growth and prosperity or stagnation and dilapidation. These cities are assessed between 1970 and 2000 to consider the factors that have altered their physical, social, and economic landscapes.
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Synopsis
While journalists document the decline of small-town America and scholars describe the ascent of such global cities as New York and Los Angeles, the fates of little cities remain a mystery. What about places like Providence, Rhode Island; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Laredo, Texas; and Salinas, Californiaandmdash;the smaller cities that constitute much of Americaandrsquo;s urban landscape? In
Small Cities USA, Jon R. Norman examines how such places have fared in the wake of the large-scale economic, demographic, and social changes that occurred in the latter part of the twentieth century.
Drawing on an assessment of eighty small cities between 1970 and 2000, Norman considers the factors that have altered the physical, social, and economic landscapes of such places. These cities are examined in relation to new patterns of immigration, shifts in the global economy, and changing residential preferences. Small Cities USA presents the first large-scale comparison of smaller cities over time in the United States, showing that small cities that have prospered over time have done so because of diverse populations and economies. These andquot;glocalandquot; cities, as Norman calls them, are doing well without necessarily growing into large metropolises.
Synopsis
A timely contribution to the national dialogue on immigration, Village of Immigrants illustrates the revitalization of small-town America by waves of immigrants no longer settling in big coastal cities. Focusing on Greenport, New York, where the author lives, the book documents the contributions the Hispanic immigrants have made to the life of the town even as it explores the dark realities that shape the immigrant experience.
About the Author
DIANA R. GORDON is professor emerita of political science and criminal justice at the City University of New York. She is the author of several books including
Transformation and Trouble: Crime, Justice and Participation in Democratic South Africa.
Table of Contents
Maps, Figures, and Tables
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: Small Cities in a Big Nation
2. The Divergent Fates of Small Cities
3. Putting Out the Welcome Mat: How People Affect Small Cities
4. Diversity, Don't Specialize
5. Balance It All: Paths of Success or Failure for Small Metro Areas
6. Small Cities Matter!
7. Epilogue: Small Cities after 2000
Appendix: Technical Information on Data Sources and Statistical Analyses
Notes
Bibliography
Index