This article, by examining the planning, development, construction, and operation of the Hiawatha light-rail transit line in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, attempts to further the understanding of coalition-building between lawmakers in urban and suburban areas, as well as those at the local, state, and federal levels, and how this cooperation affects metropolitan areas. The analysis relies on primary and secondary data from local newspapers, radio transcripts, and organization websites and materials from 1995 to 2007 to examine the political processes surrounding the project. Previous research on coalition-building strategies and regionalism informs the theoretical approach of the article. Key findings suggest that traffic congestion acts as a powerful motivator for uniting urban and suburban interests. The research also supports previous findings that big-city mayors seldom take the lead in promoting regional cooperation. In addition, findings suggest that governor-brokered coalitions can be relatively unstable, and that the possibility for receiving federal funds promotes regional cooperation along the lines of transportation issues.

This paper explores how urban middle-class parents with children at the elementary school level construct accounts about school choice in comparison to parents with children at the middle and high school levels. Previous studies have largely focused on the former. Data for this study come from in-depth interviews with 44 parents who enrolled their children in an urban school district. Findings suggest that parents’ choices and narratives concerning schools are affected by the school district’s institutional context. Parents with children at the elementary school level largely avoided their neighborhood-designated schools and secured spots in the city’s more desirable magnet schools. The group distinctions created at this level were “bad schools” and “bad parents” versus “good schools” and “good parents.” Parents with children in the middle and high school years similarly avoided the district’s general programs and secured the desirable slots in those schools’ academically segregated honors, AP, and IB programs. Distinctions created here were between “good students” and “bad students” and parents employed highly individualistic notions of educational success. The findings suggest that even parents with progressive social values rely on school and academic segregation to secure valued resources for their children. Districts that value integration therefore must develop robust programs to counter the self-segregation of middle-class families.

This article, by analyzing a major development initiative undertaken in upstate New York, seeks to broaden our understanding of a dominant model of economic development: industrial recruitment. Whereas prior studies have examined this model mainly within separate, individual communities, this article broadens the analysis to the regional level and examines how regional economic development organizations can help mediate local political fragmentation that can potentially undermine crossjurisdictional economic development ventures. With this, we explore how these organizations can exploit the bonding and bridging social ties within and between communities to advance a project, the methods they employ to broaden cross-community consensus regarding a project, and how they can potentially mediate political conflict that may arise as a result of a development venture.

Substantial research has examined urban middle class parents and their motivations for enrolling their children in city public schools. Less research, however, has explored how these types of parents view private schools and suburban public schools. Using in-depth interviews with parents and guided by the frameworks of rational choice and social identity theories, this paper explores this topic. Findings suggest that both instrumental and philosophical factors affect parents' perceptions of private schools and suburban public schools. Parents tended to be skeptical of the purported, superior quality of education in both private and suburban public schools. They also felt these schools offered neither advantages surrounding the social/peer climate, nor in college preparation. In addition, parents believed that enrolling their children in either private schools or suburban public schools would undermine their egalitarian and inclusive social and political values.