Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents ix
3. Introduction 1
4. 1. The Business District: Downtown in the Late Nineteenth Century 9
5. 2. Derailing the Subways: The Politics of Rapid Transit 44
6. 3. The Sacred Skyline: The Battle over Height Limits 112
7. 4. The Central Business District: Downtown in the 1920s 183
8. 5. The Specter of Decentralization: Downtown During the Great Depression and World War II 218
9. 6. Wishful Thinking: Downtown and the Automotive Revolution 249
10. 7. Inventing Blight: Downtown and the Origins of Urban Redevelopment 317
11. 8. Just Another Business District? Downtown in the Mid Twentieth Century 381
12. Epilogue 395
13. Notes 399
14. Acknowledgments 475
15. Index 477