The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart

In The Big Sort, journalist Bill Bishop shows how Americans over the last three decades have sorted themselves geographically, economically and politically into like-minded communities. Homogeneity may be a perk of the choice our society offers, but it also breeds economic inequality, cultural misunderstanding, political extremism and legislative gridlock.

The city of Portland and the state of Oregon are no exceptions to this trend. On July 11, Bishop will show the benefits and drawbacks created by such sorting. On the one hand, sorting has given Portland the large majorities necessary to undertake bold policy experiments in planning, parks, public transportation and pollution control. On the other hand, the increasing homogeneity of distinct local communities has intensified political polarization at the state level, making larger consensus increasingly difficult.

Bill Bishop was a special projects reporter at the Austin American-Statesman when he began research on city growth and political polarization. Bishop has worked as a columnist for the Lexington, Kentucky Herald-Leader and as a reporter for the Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Kentucky. He and his wife also owned and operated the Bastrop County Times, a weekly in Smithville, Texas.