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For collaboratives to form, this article argues that a collaborative window (the confluence of problem, policy, organizational, and social/political/economic streams) must open, and a collaborative entrepreneur must act (recognizing the window and bringing together appropriate partners). This article argues that because collaborations form in response to particular collaborative windows, the initial governance structures developed will correspond to the conditions characterizing the window. Because initial governance structures are difficult to change and the conditions that characterized the collaborative window shift when the window closes, social service partnerships have built into them the seeds for their short-term demise. To illustrate this argument, a case study is presented of three small, community-based organizations that partnered to provide social services for persons living with HIV and AIDS in Orange County, California. The implications of this case study for understanding the potential long-term impacts of collaborations are discussed.

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Geographers and other social scientists investigating the impact of economic and demographic restructuring have tended to focus on urban metropolitan areas. There has been much less exploration of the local impacts of such change in largely nonmetropolitan locales. Many of these nonmetropolitan regions, however, are some of the fastest growing in the U.S. This article addresses this issue by examining, at the county level, economic and population trends in the state of Idaho. Generally recognized for its agricultural outputs (such as potatoes), Idaho experienced a population growth rate of 18.1 percent during the 1990s, making it one of the fastest growing states in the U.S. However, population growth and the associated changes in the local economy were unevenly distributed across the state. This article develops a typology of growth and change, indicating patterns of growth related to two predominant trends: high-tech footloose capital investment and amenity-and tourism-related residential development. Implications of this analysis for future research are discussed.

Although the Western Mountain region of the USA has experienced substantial change, especially since 1990, there is relatively little understanding of the processes and impacts of restructuring in this largely rural region. In addition to the widely understood shift to service and high technology employment experienced in urban, suburban, and rural places, restructuring in the Western Mountain states has also significantly challenged existing political and social relationships. The authors examine the outcomes of restructuring by exploring economic, social, and political change in Idaho-a state in the Western USA. Idaho has witnessed a drastic decline in agriculture, ranching, and mining, and a rapid growth in the tourism, recreation, and high-technology sectors. Such changes have contributed to escalating tensions across the state concerning the appropriate use of public lands. The authors illustrate these tensions by exploring an ongoing controversy over the use of Idaho's school-endowment lands. The conflict over how these lands should be used highlights the central role that restructuring has played in political and social conflict over environmental protection and land use in largely rural areas.

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Research on access tends to focus on descriptive indicators characterizing need. Other attributes such as behavior and attitudes however may also play central roles. This paper explores the influence of descriptive (e.g., sociodemographic characteristics, residential location, and physical health) and behavioral (e.g., social network interaction and mobility) variables on service use using a recent survey of persons living with HIV or AIDS in Orange County, California. Services are divided into two types: medical care (providing medication and regular examinations associated with HIV and AIDS) and human services (providing mental health care and meeting basic needs such as food, clothing, and housing). The analysis indicates that not having medical coverage was strongly associated with greater use of public medical services, and that self-reported disability and being reliant on a friend for transportation were strongly associated with greater use of human and supportive services. Implications of these results are presented for policy and future research.