Bay cities and water politics
Subtitle: the battle for resources in Boston and Oakland
By: Sarah S. Elkind ; maps by Aaron J. Weier.
Series: Development of western resources
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Lawrence
Language: eng
Number of pages: 246
Subjects: Water-supply -- Massachusetts -- Boston; Water-supply -- California -- Oakland; Water quality management; Urban ecology -- United States; Municipal services -- Massachusetts -- Boston; Municipal services -- California -- Oakland
Description: Near the end of the nineteenth century, the cities of Boston and Oakland each faced environmental crises of water contamination and shortages that existing regional agencies could not solve. How these two cities resolved their water problems is the basis of a comparative history that provides valuable insights into urban development and explores the political implications and environmental impacts of regionalism.

Combining insights from urban, western, and environmental history, Elkind examines the ways that people's reactions to their natural surroundings drive both demand for improved public services and political reform.

She traces public works development in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era to explain how these programs united each city with its suburban neighbors, creating new political entities and allowing Boston and Oakland to appropriate rural resources and thus overcome the environmental limits to their continued growth and prosperity. She also shows how, when the power of regionalism is turned to urban development, environmental and social costs are sometimes overlooked.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-228) and index.