front cover of Regional and Metropolitan Growth and Decline in the US
Regional and Metropolitan Growth and Decline in the US
William H. Frey
Russell Sage Foundation, 1988
During the 1970s, several striking population shifts attracted widespread attention and colorful journalistic labels. Urban gentrification, the rural renaissance, the rise of the Sunbelt—these phenomena signaled major reversals in long-term patterns of population distribution. In Regional and Metropolitan Growth and Decline in the United States, authors Frey and Speare place such reversals in context by examining a rich array of census data. This comprehensive study describes new population distribution patterns, explores their consequences, and evaluates competing explanations of current trends. The authors also provide an in-depth look at the changing race, status, and household demographics of the nation's largest cities and discuss the broad societal forces precipitating such changes. Frey and Speare conclude that the 1970s represented a "transition decade" in the history of population distribution and that patterns now emerging do not suggest a return to the past. With impressive scope and detail, this volume offers an unmatched picture of regional growth and decline across the United States. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Census Series.
[more]

logo for Harvard University Press
Religious Change in America
Andrew Greeley
Harvard University Press, 1996
Many observers assume that America is a much less religious nation than it was forty years ago. According to Andrew Greeley, however, this is simply not true. Carefully analyzing surveys conducted over the past half-century, Greeley concludes that rates of church attendance, prayer, church membership, activity in church organizations, belief in life after death, and other measures of religious involvement have remained surprisingly constant.
[more]

front cover of Rotten Boroughs, Political Thickets, and Legislative Donnybrooks
Rotten Boroughs, Political Thickets, and Legislative Donnybrooks
Redistricting in Texas
Edited by Gary A. Keith
University of Texas Press, 2013

Every ten years, the Texas legislature redistricts itself and the state’s congressional districts in an attempt to ensure equality in representation. With a richly textured cultural fabric, Texas often experiences redistricting battles that are heated enough to gain national attention. Collecting a variety of voices, including legislators themselves, in addition to lawyers, community organizers, political historians, and political scientists, Rotten Boroughs, Political Thickets, and Legislative Donnybrooks delivers a multidimensional picture of how redistricting works in Texas today, and how the process evolved.

In addition to editor Gary Keith’s historical narrative, which emphasizes the aftermath of the Warren Court’s redistricting decisions, longtime litigators David Richards and J. D. Pauerstein describe the contentious lines drawn from the 1970s into the 2000s. Former state legislator and congressman Craig Washington provides an insider’s view, while redistricting attorney and grassroots organizer Jose Garza describes the repercussions for Mexican Americans in Texas. Balancing these essays with a quantitative perspective, political scientists Seth McKee and Mark McKenzie analyze the voting data for the 2000 decade to describe the outcomes of redistricting. The result is a timely tour that provides up-to-date context, particularly on the role of the Voting Rights Act in the twenty-first century. From local community engagement to the halls of the Capitol, this is the definitive portrait of redistricting and its repercussions for all Texans.

[more]

front cover of RSF
RSF
The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: Growing Up Rural: Education, Health, Family, and Economic Outcomes
Shelley Clark
Russell Sage Foundation, 2022
Note copy pertains to both volumes of this double issue:

Nearly 46 million Americans live in rural counties – areas with small populations that are often located far from large cities. Yet we know relatively little about how living in a rural area influences child and adolescent life trajectories and adult outcomes when compared to their urban counterparts. In this special double issue of RSF, sociologist Shelley Clark, epidemiologist Sam Harper, and agricultural economist Bruce Weber, and an interdisciplinary group of contributors provide a comprehensive look at the impact that growing up rural has across the lifespan, examining both the challenges and advantages of growing up in rural America.
 
The 15 articles in this double issue explore the effects of rural life on family, educational attainment, economic security, and health. Issue 1 looks at the impact of rural families and schools on children’s and adolescents’ educational aspirations and wellbeing. Contributors Jennifer Sherman and Kai A. Schafft find that while rural gentrification brings needed resources to struggling communities, it can also exacerbate educational inequality. Jessica C. Drescher and colleagues reveal that only modest differences in educational outcomes exist between rural and non-rural students overall and that socioeconomic status is less predictive of academic achievement in rural areas compared to non-rural areas. Ryan Parsons shows that rural students with college aspirations, particularly students of color, incur social and emotional costs in pursuing upward mobility not experienced by their urban counterparts, such as having to permanently relocate to more advantaged areas.
 
Issue 2 examines transitions to adulthood in rural areas and the longer-term influences of growing up in rural areas on adults’ health and economic attainment. Emily Miller and Kathryn Edin find that low-income rural young adults have children and marry earlier than their peers, but achieve other markers of adulthood, such as leaving the parental home, more slowly and often only tentatively. Robert D. Francis shows that rural, working-class men will employ various strategies to improve their employment opportunities in ways that support their identities as rural, working-class men. For example, they pursue additional education and training in fields that will allow them to continue to hold traditionally masculine, working-class jobs, such as obtaining credentials to be truck drivers or mechanics. Evan Roberts and colleagues find that growing up on or moving to a farm were associated with better health outcomes. Emily Parker and colleagues find that rural residents who live in counties that receive a higher amount of federal funding and moved from their home county in adulthood were more likely to achieve higher educational attainment and earnings than those in counties that received less funding.
 
This volume of RSF provides a more nuanced understanding of the advantages and disadvantage of growing up in rural areas and how it shapes the life trajectories of rural Americans.
 
 
[more]

front cover of RSF
RSF
The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: Growing Up Rural: Education, Health, Family, and Economic Outcomes
Shelley Clark
Russell Sage Foundation, 2022
Note copy refers to both issues. This is a double issue.

 
Nearly 46 million Americans live in rural counties – areas with small populations that are often located far from large cities. Yet we know relatively little about how living in a rural area influences child and adolescent life trajectories and adult outcomes when compared to their urban counterparts. In this special double issue of RSF, sociologist Shelley Clark, epidemiologist Sam Harper, and agricultural economist Bruce Weber, and an interdisciplinary group of contributors provide a comprehensive look at the impact that growing up rural has across the lifespan, examining both the challenges and advantages of growing up in rural America.
 
The 15 articles in this double issue explore the effects of rural life on family, educational attainment, economic security, and health. Issue 1 looks at the impact of rural families and schools on children’s and adolescents’ educational aspirations and wellbeing. Contributors Jennifer Sherman and Kai A. Schafft find that while rural gentrification brings needed resources to struggling communities, it can also exacerbate educational inequality. Jessica C. Drescher and colleagues reveal that only modest differences in educational outcomes exist between rural and non-rural students overall and that socioeconomic status is less predictive of academic achievement in rural areas compared to non-rural areas. Ryan Parsons shows that rural students with college aspirations, particularly students of color, incur social and emotional costs in pursuing upward mobility not experienced by their urban counterparts, such as having to permanently relocate to more advantaged areas.
 
Issue 2 examines transitions to adulthood in rural areas and the longer-term influences of growing up in rural areas on adults’ health and economic attainment. Emily Miller and Kathryn Edin find that low-income rural young adults have children and marry earlier than their peers, but achieve other markers of adulthood, such as leaving the parental home, more slowly and often only tentatively. Robert D. Francis shows that rural, working-class men will employ various strategies to improve their employment opportunities in ways that support their identities as rural, working-class men. For example, they pursue additional education and training in fields that will allow them to continue to hold traditionally masculine, working-class jobs, such as obtaining credentials to be truck drivers or mechanics. Evan Roberts and colleagues find that growing up on or moving to a farm were associated with better health outcomes. Emily Parker and colleagues find that rural residents who live in counties that receive a higher amount of federal funding and moved from their home county in adulthood were more likely to achieve higher educational attainment and earnings than those in counties that received less funding.
 
This volume of RSF provides a more nuanced understanding of the advantages and disadvantage of growing up in rural areas and how it shapes the life trajectories of rural Americans.
 
[more]

front cover of RSF
RSF
The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: Suburban Inequality
L'Heureux Lewis-McCoy
Russell Sage Foundation, 2023
Note this copy pertains to two issues. This is a double issue.

Suburbs are home to almost half of all Americans and have undergone dramatic demographic shifts over the past 20 years. Yet, suburbs remain understudied, and we know little about the changes taking place in these communities. In this special double issue of RSF, sociologists R. L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy, Natasha Warikoo, Stephen A. Matthews, education scholar Nadirah Farah Foley, and an interdisciplinary group of contributors examine how suburbs have evolved and growing suburban inequality.
 
Issue 1 looks at the diversification of suburbs as well as inequality in suburban housing. Daniel T. Litcher and colleagues find that a majority of residents living in metropolitan areas now live in suburbs and this change has been driven by a migration of ethnic and racial minorities to suburban areas. Devin Q. Rutan and colleagues reveal that the number of suburban evictions has steadily risen over time, even as urban evictions have remained stable. Jennifer Girouard finds that while the state of Massachusetts passed Chapter 40B in 1969, a law that ensures affordable housing is built in the suburbs, local residents and leaders use tactics such as creating narratives of the town being victimized by predatory developers to resist the law and the development of affordable housing.
 
Issue 2 examines suburban schools, how community institutions function in suburban areas, and suburban politics. Shruti Bathia and colleagues find that between 2000 and 2015 Latino children attending elementary school in the suburbs had more exposure to White peers than their counterparts attending urban schools. However, suburban Latino children’s exposure to White students declined during that same time period. Scott W. Allard and Elizabeth Pelletier reveal that the nonprofit safety net is less responsive in suburban areas than urban centers and that nonprofit services are less robust in high poverty suburban areas and suburban areas with larger Black populations. Brenden Beck shows that suburbs with large Black populations rely the most on fine-and-fee revenue and that municipalities that rely more on monetary sanctions have more police killings. Kiara Wyndham Douds finds that incorporated suburbs are Whiter and less racially diverse than unincorporated suburbs, suggesting that incorporation has been an effective strategy for racial exclusion.
 
This volume of RSF investigates the underexamined and pressing issue of inequality in suburbs and explores how it develops within and between suburban communities.
 
[more]

front cover of RSF
RSF
The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: Suburban Inequality
L'Heureux Lewis-McCoy
Russell Sage Foundation, 2023
Note this copy pertains to two issues. This is a double issue.

Suburbs are home to almost half of all Americans and have undergone dramatic demographic shifts over the past 20 years. Yet, suburbs remain understudied, and we know little about the changes taking place in these communities. In this special double issue of RSF, sociologists R. L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy, Natasha Warikoo, Stephen A. Matthews, education scholar Nadirah Farah Foley, and an interdisciplinary group of contributors examine how suburbs have evolved and growing suburban inequality.
 
Issue 1 looks at the diversification of suburbs as well as inequality in suburban housing. Daniel T. Litcher and colleagues find that a majority of residents living in metropolitan areas now live in suburbs and this change has been driven by a migration of ethnic and racial minorities to suburban areas. Devin Q. Rutan and colleagues reveal that the number of suburban evictions has steadily risen over time, even as urban evictions have remained stable. Jennifer Girouard finds that while the state of Massachusetts passed Chapter 40B in 1969, a law that ensures affordable housing is built in the suburbs, local residents and leaders use tactics such as creating narratives of the town being victimized by predatory developers to resist the law and the development of affordable housing.
 
Issue 2 examines suburban schools, how community institutions function in suburban areas, and suburban politics. Shruti Bathia and colleagues find that between 2000 and 2015 Latino children attending elementary school in the suburbs had more exposure to White peers than their counterparts attending urban schools. However, suburban Latino children’s exposure to White students declined during that same time period. Scott W. Allard and Elizabeth Pelletier reveal that the nonprofit safety net is less responsive in suburban areas than urban centers and that nonprofit services are less robust in high poverty suburban areas and suburban areas with larger Black populations. Brenden Beck shows that suburbs with large Black populations rely the most on fine-and-fee revenue and that municipalities that rely more on monetary sanctions have more police killings. Kiara Wyndham Douds finds that incorporated suburbs are Whiter and less racially diverse than unincorporated suburbs, suggesting that incorporation has been an effective strategy for racial exclusion.
 
This volume of RSF investigates the underexamined and pressing issue of inequality in suburbs and explores how it develops within and between suburban communities.
 
[more]

logo for Russell Sage Foundation
RSF
The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: U.S. Census 2020: Continuity and Change
Zhenchao Qian
Russell Sage Foundation, 2025

logo for Russell Sage Foundation
RSF
The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: U.S. Census 2020: Continuity and Change
Zhenchao Qian
Russell Sage Foundation, 2024

front cover of Rural and Small Town America
Rural and Small Town America
Glenn V. Fuguitt
Russell Sage Foundation, 1989
Important differences persist between rural and urban America, despite profound economic changes and the notorious homogenizing influence of the media. As Glenn V. Fuguitt, David L. Brown, and Calvin L. Beale show in Rural and Small Town America, the much-heralded disappearance of small town life has not come to pass, and the nonmetropolitan population still constitutes a significant dimension of our nation's social structure. Based on census and other recent survey data, this impressive study provides a detailed and comparative picture of rural America. The authors find that size of place is a critical demographic factor, affecting population composition (rural populations are older and more predominantly male than urban populations), the distribution of poverty (urban poverty tends to be concentrated in neighborhoods; rural poverty may extend over large blocks of counties), and employment opportunities (job quality and income are lower in rural areas, though rural occupational patterns are converging with those of urban areas). In general, rural and small town America still lags behind urban America on many indicators of social well-being. Pointing out that rural life is no longer synonymous with farming, the authors explore variations among nonmetropolitan populations. They also trace the impact of major national trends—the nonmetropolitan growth spurt of the 1970s and its current reversal, for example, or changing fertility rates—on rural life and on the relationship between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan communities. By describing the special characteristics and needs of rural populations as well as the features they share with urban America, this book clearly demonstrates that a more accurate picture of nonmetropolitan life is essential to understanding the larger dynamics of our society. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Census Series
[more]


Send via email Share on Facebook Share on Twitter