Helping students understand the historical issues underlying the society in which they live, this absorbing text surveys the dynamics of American urbanization from the sixteenth century to the present, skillfully blending historical perspectives on society, economics, politics, and policy, and focusing on the ways in which diverse peoples have inhabited and interacted in cities. Examining opposing centripetal and centrifugal forces in urbanization, it tackles sensitive ethnic and racial minority issues, offers multiple perspectives on women, and highlights urbanization's constantly shifting nature—weaving insightful discussions throughout on adapting, and coping between people, the environment that they build, and the power structures that affect their lives.