This book offers geographical perspectives on the condition of the United States at the outset of the 21st century. It compares the American ideals of liberty, equality, individual opportunity, and social improvement with the contemporary condition of the regions, states and localities - the ideal American space with its reality as a place. It uses the public standard provided by the official ideology of the United States to see how well things are really going. The authors consider the contrast between ideal and reality at local, state, and national levels in education, health, and welfare, in community, race, gender, and class relations, in economic and industrial development, and in the use and exploitation of America’s landscape. Each chapter addresses the issues through evidence of long-term and recent trends, and grounds its arguments in information.