Making Your Move to One of America's Best Small Towns: How to Find a Great Little Place as Your Next Home Base

Book Description

For those looking to raise a family in a storybook American town, or a change of pace from hectic city life, this book is the answer.

Customer Reviews:

A Poor Offering.......2007-08-10

This is not a very good book. 50% of the book is devoted to Mr. Crampton's less than interesting observations of life in a small town. His advice is mostly extremely basic common sense stuff that any normal person should already know. He offers very few interesting insights.

The other half of the book is his list of the 120 best small towns in America. This part of the book is even more weak. It's obvious Mr. Crampton did a lot of internet travel to gather his data as the descriptions are clearly culled from the towns' chamber of commerce websites. He offers zero insight or information gained from him (or someone else) actually visiting / living in the towns and conveying what the towns are actually like.

His ruse is painfully evident as the "more info" listing for each town is merely a link to their respective chamber of commerce website! What "more info" could there be given that the author merely copied the site? Even his internet research was exceptionally lazy.

The book should be titled "A Compilation of America's Best Small Towns' Chamber of Commerce Website Info plus Non-insightful Musings of the Armchair Travelling Author."

And how do the towns qualify as being best? By Mr. Crampton's estimation they must have a highschool, and a hospital, and at least a few other businesses that aren't Walmart. Could the bar be set any lower? With that criteria one could throw 120 darts blindfolded at a map and do just as well as this book.

The book could be fodder for a Garrison Keilor Ketchup skit, "you know June, why don't we retire to the country, find a town with a highschool and live out our days..... Dear, have you been getting enough Ketchup lately..."

A very weak text that I'll be returning to Amazon post haste!

Make that 3 1/2 stars.......2005-03-28

Actually, I would have given "Making Your Move" 4 stars had I found the descriptions of the individual towns more interesting. But, what I did find was a witty style of writing, some laugh-out-loud moments, and some very down-to-earth advice on the pearls and perils of small-town life. One might apply Norm's smart and insightful guidelines to just about any sparsely populated area in the quest for new habitation. So even though his selections failed to fire me up, they did make me realize that I may not be cut out for small-town living after all. And that, in itself, is worth far more than the price of a book. Thanks, Norm, and make that four stars.

Part of the story.......2003-03-12

This book is a good place to start if you're thinking of moving to a town of 15,000 or less. It will point you to many interesting communities. However, having used his previous book to guide my last move, and as a resident of one of the towns highlighted in this book (Grinnell), I can honestly say that data only carries you so far. Crampton could provide readers with a great benefit by lengthening the amount of description and flavor for each town. In particular, one key element missing is the 'dynamic' of a town: is it progressive? conservative? excited about education? quick to vote down taxes and bonds? These elements form the 'culture' of a small town, and believe me, the culture of a small town will be *very* important to you!

A good guide to start.......2003-01-08

As a resident of one of the 120 "best small towns" recommended by Norman Crampton, I was delighted to see Silver City on the list.

While Crampton's book is a good place to start your search for small town living, it is important to realize that each small town offers a unique personality. Some generalizations simply do not apply to Silver City. For example, it is not necessary to join a church (or country club) in order to fit in here. Even a small community like ours has diverse sub-populations: recent retirees, most of whom have some affinity for the arts; old-timers, most of whom are the conservative church-goers Crampton describes; and Hispanic families, many of whom have worked in the mines.

These groups rarely interact, although we usually get along very peacefully. We also have a number of folks who teach at the university -- and we rarely see them around town.

To learn about Silver city, you won't get much information from the Chamber of Commerce or the editor of the newspaper. You'd do better to spend some time hanging out at the AIR cafe, talking to whoever comes in. The morning and afternoon groups are quite different and everyone is friendly.

The author gives some nuts and bolts about each small town. Unfortunately, with the exception of weather, much of this information will change by the time the book is printed. And your decision may well be made by factors that can't be added up.

The best part of the book is the section on economics of small town living. Here, he's right on. You have to budget for travel to a large city now and then. Air travel will be more costly and you need time to drive to a large airport. His view of housing prices seems optimistic. If you move to a desirable city (such as Silver City) expect to pay more for a house than he allows.
And if you move to retire, your economic picture will be quite different. Many newcomers to Silver City are beginning a second career as an artist or writer. Moving without a job is scary -- and I do not recommend it unless you fit the profile I describe in my own book, Making the Big Move.

Seaside: Making a Town in America
Average customer rating:
Seaside: Making a Town in America

Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Residential | Building Types & Styles | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
United States (Southern) | International | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Florida | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
New Towns | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
jp-unknown2 | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Seaside Seaside

The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community

Seaside Style

Seaside Picket Fences

Rosemary Beach

ASIN: 0910413266

Amazon.com

This publication documents the genesis and development of one of the first New Urbanist communities in the United States, Seaside, which has been the subject of intense debate among architects, planners, ecologists, and civic-minded citizens. Located in Florida's panhandle, this town was created in the early 1990s by two of the most prominent leaders of the New Urbanist movement, Miami-based architect- planners Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. As their firm, known as DPZ, continues to become more involved in urban planing and builds more towns like Seaside around the country, this book is an essential starting point for understanding DPZ's controversial town-making principles.

Book Description

Seaside provides a history of the town, interviews with its?planners, zoning and building codes, and drawings, photographs, and?descriptions of over 120 buildings by 40 architects.

Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940-1960 (Historical Studies of Urban America)

Average customer rating:

Racism + Capitalism = Public Housing in Chicago
the deception of public housing
Well-written historical account

Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940-1960 (Historical Studies of Urban America)
Arnold R. Hirsch
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Housing & Urban Development | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto
Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States
Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City
American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland (Politics and Society in Twentieth Century America)
Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939

ASIN: 0226342441

Book Description

In Making the Second Ghetto, Arnold Hirsch argues that in the post-depression years Chicago was a "pioneer in developing concepts and devices" for housing segregation. Hirsch shows that the legal framework for the national urban renewal effort was forged in the heat generated by the racial struggles waged on Chicago's South Side. His chronicle of the strategies used by ethnic, political, and business interests in reaction to the great migration of southern blacks in the 1940s describes how the violent reaction of an emergent "white" population combined with public policy to segregate the city.

"In this excellent, intricate, and meticulously researched study, Hirsch exposes the social engineering of the post-war ghetto."—Roma Barnes, Journal of American Studies

"According to Arnold Hirsch, Chicago's postwar housing projects were a colossal exercise in moral deception. . . . [An] excellent study of public policy gone astray."—Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune

"An informative and provocative account of critical aspects of the process in [Chicago]. . . . A good and useful book."—Zane Miller, Reviews in American History

"A valuable and important book."—Allan Spear, Journal of American History

Customer Reviews:

Racism + Capitalism = Public Housing in Chicago.......2002-12-29

Excellent review of how the Chicago Housing Authority, despite good intentions, ended up not only itself segregated, but reinforced existing housing segregation in the private market.

Hirsch actually takes a much broader view of his subject than public housing. Rather, he exp;ores the various ways public policy was manipulated (generally by commercial interests) to serve their own ends, and how those profit driven manipulations resulted in Chicago being one of America's most segregated cities. Ironically, the dramatic expansion of the Black Ghetto chronicalled by Hirsch occurred at the same time that the country was under seige by the forces of McCarthism...yet in Chicago, the commercial interests (lead by Marshall Field) had no compunction about seizing private property to serve their own ends.

Anyone who believes that neighborhoods are segregated because of private choices must read this book and learn the truth.

the deception of public housing.......2000-09-28

After reading The Hidden War,(which made extensive reference to Hirsch's book)I wanted a more detailed history about the creation of public housing as we know it to be in Chicago. This book gives detail of how the political,educational, civic organizations wanted to contain the burgeoning African American community which was growing during post world war II and the great migration years. The powerful in Chicago used government policies to maintain housing segregation...the powerless resorted to violence to keep African Americans out of neighborhoods...the results were the massive and bleak housing structures which are called public housing. This book not only talks about the historical wheelings and dealings of the white power structure, but it also gives insight into how the same tactics are being used today, to maintain certain class and racial segregation. This is a good companion must read along with The Hidden WARS.

Well-written historical account.......1998-07-08

I had to read this book for a college history class I took 2 years ago and I felt that it was extremely detailed and informative. I was quite surprised by my reaction because I felt it was a great read whether or not you enjoy historical books.

The Making of Urban America. A History of City Planning in the United States

Average customer rating:

The epic architectural!

The Making of Urban America. A History of City Planning in the United States
John W. Reps
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Regional Planning | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

History of Urban Form: Before the Industrial Revolution
Bird's Eye Views: Historic Lithographs of North American Cities
Timeless cities : an architects reflections on Renaissance Italy
Canon of the Five Orders of Architecture
Collage City

ASIN: 0691006180

Book Description

This comprehensive survey of urban growth in America has become a standard work in the field. From the early colonial period to the First World War, John Reps explores to what extent city planning has been rooted in the nation's tradition, showing the extent of European influence on early communities. Illustrated by over three hundred reproductions of maps, plans, and panoramic views, this book presents hundreds of American cities and the unique factors affecting their development.

Customer Reviews:

The epic architectural!.......2007-01-26

The architectural constructions and superb designs are a constant challenge for every raising generation. If Gaudi is to Barcelona an always reminded icon, Le Cotrbusier occupies a special place for the French citizens, Frank Lloyd Wright joins this special pantheon of creative minds who faced with audacious bravery the task to build ambiances destined not only to embellish the urban environment but confer it of refined personality and impress its own feature for the generations to come.

Among countless texts that have illustrated the astonishing and majestic development of United States, no other book has immersed with such profundity in what concerns the process to link the early settlements to modern times. Written, depicted and supported lavishly, you will be engaged from the first page till the end. His reading is not only absorbing but admirably rich in details that justify plainly your inversion.

Working-Class White: The Making and Unmaking of Race Relations

Average customer rating:

Interesting.....

Working-Class White: The Making and Unmaking of Race Relations
Monica McDermott
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage
Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood
Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States (Communication, Society and Politics)
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families
Learning From Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies

ASIN: 0520248090

Book Description

This lively, informative study provides an intimate view of the lived experience of race in urban America from a unique vantage: the corner store. Sociologist Monica McDermott spent a year working as a convenience store clerk in white working class neighborhoods in Atlanta and Boston in order to observe race relations between blacks and whites in a natural setting. Her findings illuminate the subtle cues and genuine misunderstandings that make up race relations in many urban communities, explore how racial interactions and racial identity are influenced by local context, and provide evidence of what many would prefer to believe does not exist: continued anti-black prejudice among white Americans. McDermott notes that while most black-white interactions are civil and unremarkable on the surface, interactions between blacks and whites living in close proximity are characterized by continual attempts to decipher the intent behind words, actions, and gestures, and that certain situations and topics of conversation, such as crime or gender relations, often elicit racial stereotypes or negative comments. Her keen insights on the nuances of race relations will make this book essential reading for students and anyone interested in life in contemporary urban America.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting............2006-07-08

The book explores race relations and is a sort of an undercover look at working class people's basic thoughts on stereotypes and how those views differ based on region. The researcher gets jobs at convenience stores in two working-class white neighborhoods bordering on working-class black neighborhoods, one in Atlanta and one in Boston. It's a fast read because it is an interesting concept. I'm not so cool with the whole treating people like guinea pigs in the whole Nickeled and Dimed style of research, though the researcher is honest with people if they ask her background (she grew up as a working class white southerner). The focus is on white-black race relations and interactions.

One of the main differences she notices is the difference in how race is perceived in Boston and Atlanta. In Boston, working class whites are proud of their ethnicity and are more likely to identify with an Old-world group, like Irish or Italian. They're also very defensive of their neighborhoods, leading to block-by-block segregation and being open about saying racist stuff aloud. In Atlanta, being working class white is something to be ashamed of because the perception is that having white skin should guarantee you middle-class status. As a result, whites often actually have a hard time landing a job that is low-skill and low paying. Further, whites are seen as weak and passive. However, in both cases, working-class whites realize that race is not a polite thing to talk about, and usually save their views for whites-only company. McDermott also explores topics like racial profiling within convenience stores and views on immigrants.

I liked this book, though it seems sort of location-centered. Maybe these views wouldn't be prevalent in places like California or Illinois. I found it especially interesting since I live in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia which has traditionally been a white working class neighborhood of Irish-Catholic background, though this is changing due to gentrification affecting all of Northern Philadelphia. It reminds me a lot of the Boston neighborhood described in this book.

If you're looking for a quick and interesting read on race in American cities, though sociologically-focused, pick this one up.

Cleveland Heights: The Making Of An Urban Suburb (OH) (Making of America)

Average customer rating:

Cleveland Heights: The Making Of An Urban Suburb (OH) (Making of America)
Marian J. Morton
Manufacturer: Arcadia Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Shaker Heights (OH) (Images of America)
Cleveland: 1796-1929 (OH) (Images of America)
Euclid Golf Neighborhood (OH) (Images of America)
Euclid Avenue: Cleveland's Sophisticated Lady, 1920-1970
Cleveland: 1930-2000 (OH) (Images of America)

ASIN: 0738523844
Release Date: 2002-08-21

Book Description

Now a bustling city of more than 50,000 residents, Cleveland Heights, situated just six miles from Cleveland's Public Square, boasts a history that begins well before its own incorporation. The region was once home to Native American tribes including the Erie and Seneca, and stalwart pioneers established settlements in the area as early as the late eighteenth century. In the post-Civil War period, as Cleveland was becoming an industrial metropolis, affluent residents began moving to the newly developed “garden suburbs,” anxious to live closer to nature and farther from the smoky city and its increasingly diverse population. Born of this same desire, Cleveland Heights was founded in 1901. Here, in this isolated countryside owned by substantial families like the Silsbys, Minors, Comptons, and Taylors, entrepreneurs and city officials envisioned a clean and comfortable suburb for Cleveland's elite. Officially designated a city in 1921, Cleveland Heights quickly became not the homogenized suburb envisioned by early developers, but a community of widely divergent neighborhoods and people. Newcomers belonged to varying class, religious, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. A century after its founding, Cleveland Heights has become an “inner-ring urban suburb,” boasting gracious homes of architectural distinction and attractive parks, but also facing the modern challenges of a dwindling population and commercial districts in need of economic revitalization. This new volume illustrates, in both word and image, the evolving life of Cleveland Heights from its beginning as part of East Cleveland Township, one of the region's first suburbs, to the present day.

Average customer rating:

The Making of Urban America
Raymond A. Mohl
Manufacturer: SR Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Human Geography | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Evolution of American Urban Society, The (6th Edition)
American Urban History: An Interpretive Reader with Commentaries
Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States
The Twentieth-Century American City: Problem, Promise, and Reality (The American Moment)
Magic Lands: Western Cityscapes and American Culture After 1940

ASIN: 0842026398

Book Description

The process by which a group of small colonial settlements in an untamed wilderness grew into a highly industrialized and urbanized nation is one of the central and most important themes of American history. The updated Making of Urban America provi

Industrial Sunset: The Making of North America's Rust Belt, 1969-1984

Average customer rating:

Industrial Sunset: The Making of North America's Rust Belt, 1969-1984
Steven High
Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Economic Conditions | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic Conditions | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Industrial | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism 40th Anniversary Edition (Carleton Library)
Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies
Barometer Rising (New Canadian Library)
The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America (Pivotal Moments in American History)
A Pocket Guide to Writing in History

ASIN: 0802085288

Book Description

Plant shutdowns in Canada and the United States from 1969 to 1984 led to an ongoing and ravaging industrial decline of the Great Lakes Region. Industrial Sunset offers a comparative regional analysis of the economic and cultural devastation caused by the shutdowns, and provides an insightful examination of how mill and factory workers on both sides of the border made sense of their own displacement. The history of deindustrialization rendered in cultural terms reveals the importance of community and national identifications in how North Americans responded to the problem.

Based on the plant shutdown stories told by over 130 industrial workers, and drawing on extensive archival and published sources, and songs and poetry from the time period covered, Steve High explores the central issues in the history and contemporary politics of plant closings. In so doing, this study poses new questions about group identification and solidarity in the face of often dramatic industrial transformation.

City Making And Urban Governance In The Americas: Curitiba And Portland (Design and the Built Environment)

Average customer rating:

City Making And Urban Governance In The Americas: Curitiba And Portland (Design and the Built Environment)
Clara Irazabal
Manufacturer: Ashgate Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Urban Renewal, Municipal Revitalization: The Case of Curitiba, Brazil

ASIN: 0754642534

Average customer rating:

A pointed and useful overview of educational restructuring.

Fixing Urban Schools
Paul Thomas Hill
Manufacturer: Brookings Institution Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Policy | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

It Takes a City: Getting Serious About Urban School Reform
Making School Reform Work: New Partnerships for Real Change

ASIN: 0815736134

Customer Reviews:

A pointed and useful overview of educational restructuring........1999-03-20

Hill and Celio have done a remarkable job of summarizing over 15 years of various attempts to "restructure" urban public education systems. In this brief book, they (1) carefully outline the strengths and weaknesses of each particular strategy - from site-based management, to school "models," to vouchers, to contracting; (2) reveal what each strategy presumes but does not itself provide for, and (3) highlight the political and ideological assumptions that drive reformers to favor one particular strategy (or way to implement a particular strategy) over another. What oft has been thought but never so well expressed, Hill & Celio's articulation of "integrative capital" theory draws together numerous threads in the reform literature and, for my money, is worth the price of the book alone.

A short book but by no means a quick read, Fixing Urban Schools is about the one thing that can finally transform public education -- not more educationist gimmicks, new ideas.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books