Includes bibliographical references (p. [321]-419) and index.

Introduction. Beyond decline: assessing the values of urban commercial life in the twentieth century -- City beautiful or beautiful mess? The gendered origins of a civic ideal -- Fixing an image of commercial dignity: postcards and the business of planning Main Street -- "Mrs. Consumer," "Mrs. Brown America," and "Mr. Chain Store Man": economic woman and the laws of retail -- Main Street's interior frontier: innovation amid Depression and War -- "The Demolition of our outworn past": Suburban shoppers and the logic of urban renewal -- The hollow prize? Black buyers, racial violence, and the riot renaissance -- Animated by nostalgia: preservation and vacancy since the 1960s -- Conclusion. "The lights are much brighter there".