Under conditions of uncertainty, we predict that development will be tied to the idiosyncrasy of organizational forms represented within local regions. Our investigation applies this theory to data on 342 counties and 43,352 businesses in the U.S. South during Reconstruction, finding support for the thesis that organizational idiosyncrasy…

Relationship between neighborhood characteristics and community development corporations (CDCs) was examined in Jackson, Mississippi. CDCs were more likely to be in neighborhoods with significant numbers of disenfranchised groups and disinvestment in the built environment. They act as subcontractors, which limits their power and mirrors structural…

Describes a strategy for a community development program that was to identify and connect needs and services through coordinated networks of organized citizens, businesses, agency staff, and local government. Reports that the strategy resulted in such programs as a county information service, a family life center, an interagency council, and a…

Disengagement, the final phase in the community development process, receives little attention in the literature. Many community development practitioners make decisions regarding disengagement intuitively. This exploratory study of disengagement from community units was based on interviews with eleven University of Missouri Extension Community…

This bibliography was compiled to provide scholars and practitioners with a comprehensive listing of materials related to urban neighborhoods as social, political, or economic units. The bibliography contains more than 200 citations of materials published in the late 70s and 1980. Each entry is accompanied by a summary and content codes which…

Effective rural education depends on active community involvement. This ethnographic case study examines three models of community organization as an explanation of how community action occurs. The three models are: (1) individuals interacting in formal and informal groups; (2) networks of "weak ties" effective for diffusing information and…

This report describes residents' efforts to generate urban change and arrest the decline of their community, Edgewater, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The report also examines how events in Edgewater affected and were affected by developments in Uptown (the adjoining predominantly commercial district) and in the Winthrop-Kenmore Corridor that…

This is an extensive bibliography of publications dealing with the quest for community in the United States. Listed are publications from a number of academic disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, history, political science, architecture, and city and regional planning. The largest section is devoted to books, which are listed…

Focusing on the period from June, 1984 through November, 1984, this report summarizes the activities of the Gulf Coast Future Issues Council (GCFIC), a non-profit corporation organized as a coordination center of community research, forecasting, trend analysis, and educational activities. After introductory material that highlights the role of the…

In this teacher's guide for grade 2, three common types of communities--farming, commuting, and urban--are presented for study. The curriculum's objectives, 11 key concepts taken up in grades 1-8, and a list of 20 behavioral objectives to be attained by the end of grade 2 are given. The year's program is organized into three units: (1) "Community…

This combined teacher guide and student text is written with the broad goal of involving high school students in Bristol Bay, Alaska, in the planning and design of their region's future. Unit I introduces changes occurring on village and regional levels, discusses planning strategies for community development, and presents village profiles for…