Multiform segregation in the context of the urban crises was a complex socio-historical phenomenon. The primary focus of this study addresses racial segregation in at least three basic societal areas: housing, employment, and education. Through the spatial separation of multiple ethnoracial groups such as African Americans and Mexican Americans, multiform segregation precipitated the urban crises. In the 50-year period this study covers, Las Vegas and Los Angeles sustained a two-tiered class system according to the prevailing racial attitudes of each city's business elite. As a resort city, Las Vegas could not endure ethnoracial tensions while Los Angeles' industrial base provided the city with the socio-political capital necessary to withstand rioting. Research materials include oral interviews, newspaper articles, governmental reports, and scholarly manuscripts. The main conclusion of this study reveals that multiform segregation was a citywide process marked by crises such as housing shortages, labor disturbances, race riots, and underperforming schools.