City on the edge : Buffalo, New York / Mark Goldman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goldman, Mark, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buffalo (N.Y.)--History.

Buffalo (N.Y.).

Buffalo (N.Y.)--Social conditions.

Physical Description:

423 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2007.

Summary:

In a sweeping narrative that speaks to the serious student of urban studies as well as the general reader, Mark Goldman tells the story of twentieth-century Buffalo, New York. Goldman covers all of the major developments: * The rise and decline of the city's downtown and ethnic neighborhoods * The impact of racial change and suburbanization * The role and function of the arts in the life of the community * Urban politics, urban design, and city planning While describing the changes that so drastically altered the form, function, and character of the city, Goldman, through detailed descriptions of special people and special places, gives a sense of intimacy and immediacy to these otherwise impersonal historical forces. City on the Edge unflinchingly documents and describes how Buffalo has been battered by the tides of history. But it also describes the unique characteristics that have encouraged an innovative cultural climate, including Buffalo's dynamic survival instinct that continues to lead to a surprisingly and inspiringly high quality of community life. Finally, it offers a road map, which--if followed--could point the way to a new and exciting future for this long-troubled city.

Contents:

The Pan-American Exposition and the Lackawanna Steel Company: high hopes in early twentieth-century Buffalo

Patterns of daily life in the industrial city

Early twentieth-century Buffalo through the lens of change

The 1920s and the rise of the modern city

Art and life in the depression decade

The home front

Buffalo at mid-century

Downtown and the neighborhoods during the 1960s

Lightning strikes: art and life during the 1960s

The 1970s: a decade of loss

Judge Curtin strives to create a new kind of community

The 1980s: where are we going?

Strange bedfellows: why bad things happen to good cities

What's going on? Buffalo at the turn of the twenty-first century

Now is the time: restoring a sense of place.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781591024576

1591024579

OCLC:

74648927