The Good City and the Good Life

Daniel Kemmis is a successful politician, former Montana state legislator, and current second-term mayor of Missoula, Montana. He is rare among elected officials as a thoughtful interpreter of and commentator on the nature of citizenship and political responsibility; even more rare, he is a fluent and engaging writer. The Good City and the Good Life is a wide-ranging discussion of democracy as a human enterprise. Kemmis uses personal experience and the experience of other cities and citizens in exploring key issues before the public. These issues include economic growth and development, education, health, and cultural life, from hometown Missoula to Baltimore, Dallas, and Seattle in the United States, to Germany and Japan in looking around the world. Though laced with references to literature, philosophy, history, and the work of important contemporary urbanologists, this is a down-to-earth and deeply felt work intended to reach out to all levels in a society concerned about its future