"This is a book about a city in the throes of an identity crisis--a city as vast as Los Angeles, experiencing both the prosperity and the poverty associated with such a big place, without the infrastructure to support its growing population--a city bursting at its seams. Shawn Micallef introduces us to those fighting for a more inclusive vision of the city, some with humour, some with hard work. He stands on doorsteps with candidates who challenge the negatives of Ford Nation by energizing their communities, never shying away from the problems that exist within them--poverty, violence, racism, and drugs--but advocating solutions that bring people together. It is in the efforts of these people that Micallef finds the promise and the potential for a city, suffering through a severe identity crisis but on the verge of greatness and set to be a new urban model worldwide."--