A road and a river: The remaking of Williamson County, Texas, 1948--2000.

摘要

Williamson County, Texas, experienced a radical reconfiguration during the last fifty years. In 1948 it was an isolated, agricultural, Democratic stronghold that possessed a rich brew of cultures and economies. In the year 2000 it was among the five fastest growing counties in the United States, suburban, homogeneous, Republican with a high-technology economy. The change occurred largely through two Federal public works projects---Interstate Highway 35 and the damming of the San Gabriel River. Planners failed to predict that the projects would trigger explosive growth, eradicating the agricultural world the dams were designed to protect. This work is a "thick description" of the projects' environmental, economic, and cultural consequences. In short, it details how suburbia comes into being.