Books about Newcomer from Amazon.com

Our first-ever Newcomer's Handbook for Portland, this thirteenth title in the series approaches Portland with a sensibility appropriate to the city--with humor and a bit of delight in the quirkiness that exemplifies the Rose City. The guidebook features in-depth Portland neighborhood and suburban community profiles as well as chapters on all aspects of local life.

Welcome to Portland, one of the most livable urban areas in America! Call it Stumptown, Rose City, Beervana, Bridgetown, Puddletown, or PDX, it s your town now. (Just don t call it Portland, or-eh-GONE. The state name is pronounced OR-uh-gun. Practice before you arrive.) Portland is located at the northern end of the fertile Willamette Valley, roughly an hour east of the coast it s called the coast here, not the shore or the beach and an hour west of the crest of the Cascade Mountains. The high desert is a two-hour drive to the east, and world-class wineries are less than an hour southwest. Abundant recreational opportunities make the city a favorite of outdoor enthusiasts, and from the city s West Hills, and even from some downtown office buildings, it s possible to see the Columbia River Gorge and five snowcapped volcanoes: Mounts Hood, St. Helens, Adams, Rainier, and Jefferson. Top that, Topeka!

Of course, Portland s appeal transcends its spectacular setting. The city is known for its vibrant neighborhoods, progressive urban planning, environmental awareness, liberal politics, coffeehouse and brewpub culture, and, yes, for its rain. So what s it really like here? Well, though Portland enjoys more than its fair share of pleasant, well-preserved urban neighborhoods, connected to one another by bike lanes and transit and state law limiting the extent of urban sprawl it is also afflicted with strip malls, traffic congestion, ill-conceived development, and other assorted ills of the modern American metropolis. The key difference is that in Portland you can arrange your life so that you don t have to deal with those problems. If you want to live in a close-in neighborhood, within walking distance of cafés and food markets, and ride your bike to work every day, you can. (You won t necessarily be able to afford a house in such a neighborhood, however.) If you prefer to live in a suburban community, you can do that, too.

As for politics, Portlanders on average are more liberal than the citizens of the typical American burg when Money magazine rated Portland the country s best place to live in 2000, it warned conservatives to stay away but the city has a surprising diversity of political opinion, ranging from a strong libertarian contingent to a small community of Trotskyites. (The latter get nervous around ice picks.) Suburban communities are generally more conservative, and the region as a whole is probably no more liberal (or conservative) than any other large coastal metropolitan area.

If it s craft beer or coffee you re after, suffice it to say you won t be disappointed. There are 38 breweries in the Portland metro area, and locally produced craft beer makes up 11% of Oregon's beer consumption. (That figure may sound low, but it s by far the highest rate in the country.) And Portland's coffee scene is every bit the equal of Seattle's, with local roasters winning awards for both quality and sustainable business practices. Don't miss the burgeoning tea scene, either, based on well-established local tea manufacturers as well as an increasing number of unique tea houses. Many Portlanders consider coffee (or tea) essential for coping with the rain.
Ah, the rain. While it s true that Portland has its share of rainy days, much of the city's rainfall arrives in the form of a fine mist or drizzle. Often a day that starts out cloudy becomes bright and sunny by afternoon (or vice versa)..
Price: $17.13 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Extensively updated and revised for 2006, this 504-page new edition maintains its strong focus on San Francisco, but expands greatly its coverage of the entire region, especially Silicon Valley. Of the 174 pages devoted exclusively to discussion of neighborhoods and communities, 52% describe San Francisco neighborhoods and North Bay communities, while 48% focus on the East Bay, Peninsula, and South Bay towns. This edition also includes a new, detailed map of San Jose designed to accompany the in-depth treatment of each of its neighborhoods, reflect the importance of the city, and complement the more broadly focused South Bay area map.

From Santa Rosa to San Francisco to Vallejo, from Walnut Creek to Oakland to Newark, and from San Bruno to San Jose to Los Gatos, this Newcomer’s Handbook® provides its readers with the most up-to-date information on housing styles, costs, and trends; redevelopment; and all the other niceties of Bay Area life, including education! and childcare, transportation, cultural life, and much more..
Price: $15.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Extensively updated and revised for 2007, this 416-page new edition maintains its strong focus on Seattle proper, but expands greatly its coverage of the surrounding area.

From Ballard to Beacon Hill, this Newcomer s Handbook® provides readers with the most up-to-date information on housing styles and trends; new development; and all the must-know information about Seattle life, including education and childcare, transportation, cultural life, and much more.

In addition to being thoroughly updated and revised, this edition offers new sections. In the Shopping for the Home chapter, we ve added Wines and Make & Take Meal Assembly; in the Cultural Life chapter, a detailed section on Art Walks is included; and in Childcare and Education, we have added Online Schools. In the Neighborhoods chapter, there are new sections about Vashon Island, Bremerton, and Sammamish..
Price: $16.47 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The second edition of Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation offers managers, analysts, consultants, and educators in government, nonprofit, and private institutions a valuable resource that outlines efficient and economical methods for assessing program results and identifying ways to improve program performance. The Handbook has been thoroughly revised.  Many new chapters have been prepared for this edition, including chapters on logic modeling and on evaluation applications for small nonprofit organizations. The Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation is a comprehensive resource on evaluation, covering both in-depth program evaluations and performance monitoring.  It presents evaluation methods that will be useful at all levels of government and in nonprofit organizations..
Price: $41.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

”In this beautiful study, Schmidt Camacho demonstrates that Mexican migrant imaginaries affirm in songs, manifestos, poetry, novels, and testimonies visions of justice that exceed the limits of the nation-form and the logics of capital accumulation”
—Lisa Lowe, author of Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics

Migrant Imaginaries explores the transnational movements of Mexican migrants in pursuit of labor and civil rights in the United States from the 1920s onward. Working through key historical moments such as the 1930s, the Chicano Movement, and contemporary globalization and neoliberalism, Alicia Schmidt Camacho examines the relationship between ethnic Mexican expressive culture and the practices sustaining migrant social movements. Combining sustained historical engagement with theoretical inquiries, she addresses how struggles for racial and gender equity, cross-border unity, and economic justice have defined the Mexican presence in the United States since 1910.

Schmidt Camacho covers a range of archives and sources, including migrant testimonials and songs, Américo Paredes’ last published novel, The Shadow, the film Salt of the Earth, the foundational manifestos of El Movimiento, Richard Rodriguez’ memoirs, narratives by Marisela Norte and Rosario Sanmiguel, and testimonios of Mexican women workers and human rights activists, as well as significant ethnographic research. Throughout, she demonstrates how Mexicans and Mexican Americans imagined their communal ties across the border, and used those bonds to contest their noncitizen status. Migrant Imaginaries places migrants at the center of the hemisphere’s most pressing concerns, contending that border crossers have long been vital to social change.

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The fourth edition of this #1 guide for relocating to Washington DC contains detailed information on neighborhoods, getting settled, helpful services, child care and education, cultural life, and much more. Written by Mike Livingston, its 432 pages provide useful information to help you decide where to move, to help you with your move, to help you settle into DC life, or just to give you the chance to get to know Washington DC better..
Price: $15.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Moving to Los Angeles has never been easier!

Expanded to include Orange County, the fourth edition of the Newcomer’s Handbook® for Moving to and Living in Los Angeles extensively covers communities from Santa Clarita to Newport Beach, from Malibu to Pasadena, and neighborhoods and cities in-between.

The fourth edition also presents essential sections on Finding a Place to Live, Moving and Storage, Money Matters, Getting Settled, Helpful Services, Childcare and Education, Shopping for the Home, Cultural Life, Sports and Recreation, Greenspace and Beaches, Places of Worship, Volunteering, Transportation, Emergency Preparedness, Temporary Lodgings, and Quick Getaways. In addition, a handy calendar of LA events, a listing of LA-related guidebooks, fiction, and nonfiction, and a directory of useful phone numbers and web sites round out this indispensable book. A set of six maps—an LA overview, plus five area maps—guide the reader to communities, freeways, and points of interest.

In addition to being thoroughly fact-checked, updated, and revised, the fourth edition includes such new material as:

• Orange County communities, focusing on Newport Beach, Irvine, and Tustin • An Immigrant Newcomers section • A Literary Life section • A thorough discussion of intrastate and interstate moves and consumer complaints.
Price: $15.59 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Extensively revised for 2007, this 416-page volume includes updated information on finding a home to rent or buy, expanded activities for the sports-minded (trapeze school, anyone?), and a brand-new section detailing day trip resources for those seeking a brief respite from the city. From Inwood to Battery Park, from Riverdale to Bayside to DUMBO to Grymes Hill, plus suburbs in New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester, and Connecticut, this latest volume extensively and intensively describes each neighborhood its character, its features, and types and availability of housing while offering the most up-to-date information on finding a place to live, childcare, transportation, education, cultural life, helpful services, recreation, and much more..
Price: $14.85 [Notify me when price goes down.]