Introduction: Themes and Theses Part 1 Reconstitution, Building Civic Capital, Economic Renewal 1 The Civil Community and Its Governance 2 The Internal Dynamics of the Cities of the Prairie 3 The Cities and Their Environment 4 Civil Community, Government, and the New Frontier 5 The Cities of the Prairie in Cyberspace 6 New Departures Part 2 Northeastern Illinois and Chicagoland 7 The Rockford Civil Community: New Kid in the Northeastern Bloc 8 The Joliet Civil Community: A Buckle on the Rustbelt Part 3 Central Illinois: The Grand Prairie 9 The Peoria Civil Community: Recession and Recovery in the Illinois Valley 10 Champaign-Urbana: Prosperity on the Prairie 11 Decatur: Agribusiness in a Cybernetic Age 12 Springfield: Capital Prospering Part 4 Western Illinois: North and South 13 The Southwestern Illinois Metropolitan Region 14 The Quad Cities: The “State of Scott” and Illinois’ Northwest Part 5 Across the Mississippi 15 The Duluth Civil Community: The End of a Long Depression? 16 Pueblo, Colorado: Modernization and the Mobilization of Public Capital: 1967-1997 Part 6 A Summation 17 Building Civil Community on the Cybernetic Frontier. Conclusion: Citizenship and Public in Metropolitan America