There was a time, unremembered by most Americans, when Burger King and Pizza Hut and Dunkin' Donuts did not dominate the nation's highways and boulevards. ! The proliferation of chain restaurants (60,000 at last count) is a signal social fact of the past four decades, a transformation of the commercial landscape more swift and radical than any other in U.S. history. Strung out along main drags in every city, fast-food franchises become the strip, identically chaotic collages of glowing signs and prefab construction. The helter-skelter of the strip is the urban critic's most convenient cliche --cheap-jack American laissez-faire run amuck.
For...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
