There is an elusive quality about much of the discussion of urban school desegregation. The mere mention of the school issue triggers arguments about housing segregation. Different understandings of the way neighborhoods became segregated produce drastically different conclusions about the remedies courts should employ to correct the violations. Fundamentally divergent conclusions about the efficacy of fair housing laws lead some to conclude that busing is a needless diversion from the road to integrated communities. Others see busing as the only real hope. Finally, different impressions of the underlying demographic trends in our cities lead some to conclude that lasting integration will be fostered by limited and very localized school desegregation. Once again, there are others who see plans encompassing entire metropolitan communities as the prerequisite for stability. The author of this paper is an advocate of the latter position. (Author/GC)