The urban wilderness;: A history of the American city

acknowledgments, I. Taking Up the Land: 1. Tradition as Determinant: New England Folk Planning, the Weight of English Custom, Resistance to Change; 2. Saving Yesterday's Property: Management of Land, Zoning, City Planning, and Interstate Highways. II. Building a Nation of Cities: 3. The Engine of Private Enterprise: New York 1820-70: Commerce, Canals, and Sweatshops; 4. The Segregated City: Chicago 1870-1920: Factories, Railroads, and Skyscrapers; 5. The New Freedom: Los Angeles 1820- : Bureaucracy, Racism, and Automobiles. III. The Past in the Present: 6. The Inheritance of the Neighborhoods: Processing Migrants by Class, Race, and Religion; Four-Part Cultures; 7. Coping with the Urban Environment: Public Crises and Private Benefit; The Response of Charity, Reform, and Science; 8. the Neglect of Everyday Life: Pouring New Money into Old Institutions; Housing and Health Care; 9. Choice and Continuity; Summary; a bibliographic guide, index. This volume show how our cities have systematically chosen to aid middle Americans in the name of helping the poor, to use government to foster class and racial segregation, to cherish private land over public service." from the jacket flap.