Building Community "along the Turnpike": The Unique Difficulties of a Populous Region

Publication Date: December 1984

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Saul Schwarz

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: Community Building; Cities and Suburbs; Demography

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

It is axiomatic that urban decay breeds social disorganization. Once, the city was the hub of an area—economically, politically and even socially. It prided itself on its industry, its facilities, its institutions and its history. But centrifugal forces began to appear, and people and industry and all the elements which make for community health and vitality, especially young people, began to move out, leaving behind the elderly who were too poor to relocate, too old to make a change or unwilling to give up old memories or associations. A gulf was created between those Jews who remained and those who left.

In Journal of Jewish Communal Service, v.61 no.2, Winter 1984.