The American City
Subtitle: An Urban Odyssey to 11 US Cities
Contributors: Profusely Illustrated (Illustrator)
Publisher: Tribune Publications
Published: 1981
Format: Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780933566026
Description: Most people visit American cities as tourists or business travelers, and return home with sketchy and stereotyped impressions. Vacationers see only the urban bright spots promoted in travel brochures. People on business trips usually see even less. The rest of the public's knowledge about major cities is shaped largely by a steady but sometimes confusing flow of news reports and documentaries in the print and broadcast media. Some urbanologists tell us that our cities are dying, while others insist they are in an exciting period of renaissance. A few have even suggested that cities are becoming obsolete. It is no wonder if the public's perception of urban American is fragmented and fuzzy. This is why The Chicago Tribune took up the mission of surveying 11 major United States cities: To cut through the confusion and to produce a series of sharply drawn, lively, and lucid articles on urban American as it enters the 1980s. Three seasoned Tribune urban affairs reporters spent seven months on the assignment, traveling 18,00 miles and interviewing more than 200 persons. Along the way-accompanied by Tribune photographers-they saw the best and worst of the cities on foot, by auto, and even by boat and helicopter.
The cities were selected to represent major geographic regions of the nation. Before visiting each of them, the reporters prepared themselves by engaging in meticulous research that included distillation of statistics and other data on almost every aspect of urban life. The persons selected for interviews ranged from nationally prominent authorities to uncommonly knowledgeable sources who are rarely approached by the news media. The articles republished here are a blend of reporting, analysis, and criticism. They go beyond the mere recitation of the obvious. Their subject matter ranges from education, politics, racial problems, and business to culture, entertainment, lifestyles, and the everyday activities and dreams of millions of Americans. Even so ambitious an effort as this cannot capture the disparate nuances of life in every urban center across the nation. Still, this massive report reflects the success, failures, and plans for the future common to almost all big cities in the U.S. The Tribune believes it is an unequaled overview of urban America, and an extraordinary work of journalism. We hope you will enjoy it-and learn from it.