ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. Economic fortunes for individuals are ever-shifting. They can be won, they can be lost, and they can be regained. The same can be said for communities. The economies of cities, counties, and regions experience growth, stasis, and decline. Most of these fluctuations are the result of larger economic forces and the resetting of local economies and industries to adjust to these impacts. The great problem here is that the impacts of such economic decline are not always understood, even after-the-fact. For communities in the initial stages of decline, the ideal solution is to attract one or more new companies to re-employ the workforce and jump-start the economy. The analyses of cities and their economic histories, within the context of the theoretical foundations available are at the heart of this research.