ABSTRACT
This chapter argues for a both/and/and conception of the urban, one that enfolds various conceptions within it and embraces the alacrity required to move from one definitional mode to another or to use two or even three modes simultaneously. The City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles are distinct entities, even though the latter envelops the former within its capacious geographical ambit. The City of Berkeley and the City of San Francisco have different city councils: there is no spillage or overlap whatsoever in this regard. The city-region in the form of the Bay Area tech agglomeration is in conflict with long-term residents of San Francisco, who perceive rising rents as being directly tied to the "invasion" of the tech workers. The footprints of the city are all over these places, in the form of city commuters, tourists, the media, and the urbanization of lifestyles. The national divide between the city and the countryside has been perforated.
