tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1415015639692216699.post-45436451249786499252008-05-13T09:28:00.000-04:002008-05-13T09:28:00.000-04:002008-05-13T09:28:00.000-04:00This is really interesting, Patch. Thanks for posting this.<BR/><BR/>A similar thing happened -- on a much, much larger scale, of course -- in Detroit and other Rust Belt cities that also were defined by one industry. (For an excellent analysis of Detroit's rise and fall, read Thomas Sugrue's <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Urban-Crisis-Inequality-Princeton/dp/0691121869/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210684229&sr=8-1" REL="nofollow">"The Origins of the Urban Crisis"</A>.) Of course, there is a different set of issues with boom-and-bust (-and-boom?) in rural areas, but it would indeed be interesting to examine whether rural areas that undergo massive social change experience similar types of crime patterns as large urban centers do.<BR/><BR/>I also am reminded of <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Crime-American-Wadsworth-Criminological-Theory/dp/0534619584/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210684383&sr=8-1" REL="nofollow">"Crime and the American Dream"</A> -- what happens when the primary means of achieving the American Dream in a particular city or region suddenly disappears? Is the loss of a tent-pole industry felt more sharply in isolated, rural areas because there are fewer easily accessible alternatives for employment? Or does the higher relative level of community cohesion in rural areas help cushion the economic blow in ways that are not possible in big cities?Dr. Huginkisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18273740636415633205noreply@blogger.com