ABSTRACT
In the mid-1980s, the Cities of the Prairie began to turn around economically. With all the dislocations and depressions, the cities were able to adapt themselves to the new conditions and begin to rebuild their economic bases within the limits imposed upon them. At the beginning of the 1990s, the metropolitan-technological frontier had been closed for half a generation and movement onto the rurban-cybernetic frontier was still spotty. In most of the cities, 1986 seems to have been a decisive date for beginning the recovery, just as 1978 had been the decisive date for the area's downturn. The one area which remains labor-intensive and whose employment role in the Cities of the Prairie is increasing is that of public service, whether in the governmental or the nongovernmental sectors. Professionalization of government continues to increase in a number of the cities, accompanied with a backing away from managerialism. The governments of the civil communities still try to manipulate the outside forces that impinge on them.
