Cities, Sagebrush, and Solitude: Urbanization and Cultural Conflict in the Great Basin

Cities, Sagebrush, and Solitude explores the transformation of the largest desert in North America, the Great Basin, into America\u27s last urban frontier. In recent decades Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake City, and Boise have become the anchors for sprawling metropolitan regions. This population explosion has been fueled by the maturing of Las Vegas as the nation\u27s entertainment capital, the rise of Reno as a magnet for multitudes of California expatriates, Salt Lake City\u27s urban corridor development along the Wasatch Range, and Boise\u27s celebrated high-tech economy and hip urban culture. The growth of cities in a fragile desert region poses a host of environmental challenges. The policies required to manage their impact often collide with an entrenched political culture that has long resisted cooperative or governmental effort. The alchemical mixture of three ingredients—cities, aridity, and a libertarian political outlook—makes the Great Basin a compelling place to study. This book addresses a pressing question: are large cities ultimately sustainable in such a fragile enviornment?https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/fac_books/1427/thumbnail.jp