Prophetic city : Houston on the cusp of a changing America / Stephen L. Klineberg with Amy Hertz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Klineberg, Stephen L., 1940- author.

Hertz, Amy, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Houston (Tex.)--Social conditions.

Houston (Tex.).

Houston (Tex.)--Economic conditions.

Economic history.

Social conditions.

Texas--Houston.

Physical Description:

ix, 319 pages : illustrations, maps, charts ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Avid Reader Press, 2020.

Summary:

Houston, Texas, long thought of as a traditionally blue-collar black/white southern city, has transformed into one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse metro areas in the nation, surpassing even New York by some measures. With a diversifying economy and large numbers of both highly-skilled technical jobs in engineering and medicine and low-skilled minimum-wage jobs in construction, restaurant work, and personal services, Houston has become a magnet for the new divergent streams of immigration that are transforming America in the 21st century. And thanks to an annual systematic survey conducted over the past thirty-eight years, the ongoing changes in attitudes, beliefs, and life experiences have been measured and studied, creating a compelling data-driven map of the challenges and opportunities that are facing Houston and the rest of the country. In Prophetic City, we'll meet some of the new Americans, including a family who moved to Houston from Mexico in the early 1980s and is still trying to find work that pays more than poverty wages. There's a young man born to highly-educated Indian parents in an affluent Houston suburb who grows up to become a doctor in the world's largest medical complex, as well as a white man who struggles with being prematurely pushed out of the workforce when his company downsizes. This timely and groundbreaking book tracks the progress of an American city like never before. Houston is at the center of the rapid changes that have redefined the nature of American society itself in the new century. Houston is where, for better or worse, we can see the American future emerging.

Contents:

Public Perceptions in a Rapidly Changing World

1 Getting to Houston p. 3

2 The Quintessential American City: Houston, 1836-1982 p. 9

3 Launching the Systematic Study of a City in Transition p. 33

Confronting the New Economy

4 When All the Good Fortune Suddenly Ended p. 55

5 The Growing Opportunity Gap p. 79

6 The Moral Core of a Paradoxical City p. 99

The Diversity Revolution

7 The Black/White Divide p. 125

8 The Demographic Transformations p. 149

9 The New Face of Houston p. 169

Coming to Grips with the New Realities

10 Generational Divides in a Time of Transition p. 203

11 The New Importance of Quality of Place p. 227

12 Pathways to Success or Failure p. 255

13 Where Will Houston Go from Here? p. 279.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-384) and index.

ISBN:

1501177915

9781501177910

OCLC:

1124518472