Books by Thomas Lyson

In 1998, the last farm in Des Plaines, Illinois was subdivided. Seven acres along the Niobrara River in north-central Nebraska sold for 5700 per acre, twenty times the price for agricultural use. Waukesha County, Wisconsin, although still largely in agriculture, has been almost entirely zoned for small lot subdivisions.

With a particular focus on the conversion of farmland to housing, roads and other development, this is an examination of the patterns, causes and consequences of current land-use decisions in the United States.

In today's South, urban centers are prospering while many rural communities and areas with high proportions of black residents have fallen behind. The author closely ties issues on economic development to social justice as he concludes his study of this unbalanced situation.