Lily Geismer is assistant professor of history at Claremont McKenna College.

"Don't Blame Us is a very readable and informative book."--Choice "This brilliantly argued and beautifully written book was ... eye-opening for me both as a scholar and a product of the world Geismer reveals in all of its complexity."--Elise Lemire, New England Quarterly "[An] exhaustively researched, compelling book... Geismer presents a fresh and much-needed portrait of a middle-class white suburbia n the most Democratic of states--Massachusetts--that forces us to reconsider easy teleological narratives of liberal 'decline' and conservative ascendancy."--Jonathan Bell, American Historical Review "[A] provocative and well-researched book... Broad scope and impressive relevance... Particularly impressive about Don't Blame Us is the way Geismer so thoroughly considers the many factors that went into the making of what might be termed the American urban crisis."--Kenneth T. Jackson, Journal of American History

• Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 Part I Suburban Activism 1 No Ordinary Suburbs 19 2 Good Neighbors 43 3 A Multiracial World 71 4 Grappling with Growth 97 5 Political Action for Peace 123 Part II Massachusetts Liberals 6 A New Center 149 7 Open Suburbs vs. Open Space 173 8 Tightening the Belt 199 9 No One Home to Answer the Phone 227 10 From Taxachusetts to the Massachusetts Miracle 251 Epilogue 281 Notes 289 Index 357

Lily Geismer is assistant professor of history at Claremont McKenna College.

"Don't Blame Us is a very readable and informative book."--Choice "This brilliantly argued and beautifully written book was ... eye-opening for me both as a scholar and a product of the world Geismer reveals in all of its complexity."--Elise Lemire, New England Quarterly "[An] exhaustively researched, compelling book... Geismer presents a fresh and much-needed portrait of a middle-class white suburbia n the most Democratic of states--Massachusetts--that forces us to reconsider easy teleological narratives of liberal 'decline' and conservative ascendancy."--Jonathan Bell, American Historical Review "[A] provocative and well-researched book... Broad scope and impressive relevance... Particularly impressive about Don't Blame Us is the way Geismer so thoroughly considers the many factors that went into the making of what might be termed the American urban crisis."--Kenneth T. Jackson, Journal of American History

• Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 Part I Suburban Activism 1 No Ordinary Suburbs 19 2 Good Neighbors 43 3 A Multiracial World 71 4 Grappling with Growth 97 5 Political Action for Peace 123 Part II Massachusetts Liberals 6 A New Center 149 7 Open Suburbs vs. Open Space 173 8 Tightening the Belt 199 9 No One Home to Answer the Phone 227 10 From Taxachusetts to the Massachusetts Miracle 251 Epilogue 281 Notes 289 Index 357

Lily Geismer is assistant professor of history at Claremont McKenna College.

"Don't Blame Us is a very readable and informative book."--Choice "This brilliantly argued and beautifully written book was ... eye-opening for me both as a scholar and a product of the world Geismer reveals in all of its complexity."--Elise Lemire, New England Quarterly "[An] exhaustively researched, compelling book... Geismer presents a fresh and much-needed portrait of a middle-class white suburbia n the most Democratic of states--Massachusetts--that forces us to reconsider easy teleological narratives of liberal 'decline' and conservative ascendancy."--Jonathan Bell, American Historical Review "[A] provocative and well-researched book... Broad scope and impressive relevance... Particularly impressive about Don't Blame Us is the way Geismer so thoroughly considers the many factors that went into the making of what might be termed the American urban crisis."--Kenneth T. Jackson, Journal of American History

• Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 Part I Suburban Activism 1 No Ordinary Suburbs 19 2 Good Neighbors 43 3 A Multiracial World 71 4 Grappling with Growth 97 5 Political Action for Peace 123 Part II Massachusetts Liberals 6 A New Center 149 7 Open Suburbs vs. Open Space 173 8 Tightening the Belt 199 9 No One Home to Answer the Phone 227 10 From Taxachusetts to the Massachusetts Miracle 251 Epilogue 281 Notes 289 Index 357