Includes bibliographical references (p. [321]-419) and index.
Contents
Beyond decline : assessing the values of urban commercial life in the twentieth century -- City beautiful or beautiful mess? The gendered origins of a civic ideal -- Fixing an image of commercial dignity : postcards and the business of planning Main Street -- "Mrs. Consumer," "Mrs. Brown America," and "Mr. Chain Store Man" : economic woman and the laws of retail -- Main Street's interior frontier : innovation amid Depression and War -- "The Demolition of our outworn past" : Suburban shoppers and the logic of urban renewal -- The hollow prize? Black buyers, racial violence, and the riot renaissance -- Animated by nostalgia : preservation and vacancy since the 1960s -- Conclusion : "The lights are much brighter there".
