Magic Lands Questions

Magic Lands Reading Questions

Introduction

What does Findlay mean by “virgin cities”—a term he employs in the introduction?

Why call these communities “magic lands”?

What is Findlay’s methodological approach? That is, how does he go about organizing and framing his study?

Judge that approach. Is it effective? Complete? Inaccurate?

What is the relationship between magic lands and their surround metropolitan areas?

What is the relationship between the West and East?

Chapter 1

	Explain the growth of Western cities and the consequences.
	Why did a change in attitude toward growth occur in the mid-1960s?
	What was the role of annexation and city planners in Western urban growth?
	What were urban critics’ objections and concerns about Western cities?
	What did Western urban residents see in urban areas as positive? As negative?

Chapter 2

	What was the designed purpose of Disneyland?
	Why was control—of the environment, of the employees, of the customers—so important in Disneyland?
	How was Disneyland conceived as a form of therapy?
	In what ways did the Cold War shape Disneyland?
	In what ways did Disneyland typify the age?
	What was Disneyland’s relationship to the West, southern California, and Orange County?
	How was Disneyland both and outgrowth and an antidote to southern California’s urban development?
	How did Disneyland provide order to a chaotic urban area?
	Why did Disney pursue EPCOT and Walt Disney World?

General Questions

	Findlay writes frequently about what might be termed the “paradox of success.” That is, Western cities generally and magic lands specifically grew so fast and so well that their growth caused problems. Explain this paradox and explores its implications.
	Do you accept Findlay’s argument that Western urban growth and magic lands were distinctly Western?
	What is the importance of cities to the larger West?