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The culture wars continue to rage across the United States. It clashes over hate speech regulations, affirmative action, abortion, immigration, art, history, and lifestyle questions suggest that America is more polarized than ever before. As suburbs draw more businesses and residents, they produce new forms of art and cultural events which longtime residents resist as undermining the essentially residential quality of suburbs. Similarly, in cities, new parking structures, highways, and downtown malls produce suburban landscapes …

…slices of it, like politics or architecture. But the urban metaphor, of course, also runs a risk to become too general, even meaningless. Negative images of cities are still prevalent, progress is being made. However, there is greater recognition of cities as centers of culture and entertainment, as well as opportunity. Yet while crime rates in cities are down and homeownership rates up, the perception of improvement in city life has not yet taken hold.