Cities and Suburbs/New Urbanism

The fascinating history of Five Points, a New York City neighborhood infamous for being utterly depraved and yet amazingly culturally rich, illuminates all the best and worst of the American immigrant experience. 40 photos.

In Green Urbanism, Timothy Beatley explains what planners and local officials in the United States can learn from the sustainable cities movement in Europe. The book draws from the extensive European experience, examining the progress and policies of twenty-five of the most innovative cities in eleven European countries. Beatley focuses on the key lessons from these cities and what their experience can teach us about effectively and creatively promoting sustainable development in the United States.

Green Urbanism will be a useful reference and source of ideas for urban and regional planners, state and local officials, policymakers, students of planning and geography, and anyone concerned with how cities can become more livable.

Imagine shuffling down Broadway through the hustle and bustle right into the nonstop, neon heart of New York City: 42nd Street.

Once a quiet neighborhood of brownstones and churches, the area was transformed in the early 1900s into an entertainment hub unlike any in the world. No place has ever evoked the glamour and romantic possibility of bigcity nightlife as vividly as did 42nd Street. It was the dazzle of "naughty, bawdy, gaudy" 42nd Street that put Times Square on the map and turned the Broadway theater district into the Great White Way. Ghosts of 42nd Street stirs your imagination as it takes you on a historical journey of this glamorized strip still known today as the Crossroads of the World. From the bold innovations of Oscar Hammerstein and Florenz Ziegfeld through the porn-laden 1960s and 1970s to the present-day "Disneyficat

The American dream of a single family home on its own lot is still strong, but a different dream of living and prospering in a major city is beginning to take hold. After decades of abandonment by the middle class, a detectable number of people are moving into urban downtown areas. The Intown Living phenomenon is generally powered by people under the age of 40 who are seeking more stimulation than offered in the typical subdivision lifestyle. This book encourages cities and the private development community to team up and expand central city housing opportunities and illustrates the upside of Intown Living to those considering moving to a city. This unique work provides current data on who is buying intown, at what prices, and in what size apartments and condominiums. This piece serves as a firsthand account of what is happening in today'

Combining first hand accounts of the attractions and distractions of city life, this book also introduces a wide range of perspectives about creating successful, livable cities, with examples from across America and around the world. The book conveys what leading thinkers--including James Howard Kunstler, Jane Holtz Kay, Tony Hiss, Phillip Lopate, Bill McKibben, Myron Orfield, and john powell, among others--say about such topics as smart growth, opportunity-based housing, traffic calming, pedestrian rights, regional planning, riverfront development, urban agriculture, and the pleasures of a saunter down tree-lined streets to restaurants, theaters, and shops, with the presence of other people.

Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk are at the forefront of the New Urbanism movement, and in "Suburban Nation" they assess sprawl's costs to society, be they ecological, economic, aesthetic, or social. 115 illustrations.

Downtown is the first history of what was once viewed as the heart of the American city. Urban historian Robert Fogelson gives a riveting account of how downtown--and the way Americans thought about it--changed between 1880 and 1950. Recreating battles over subways and skyscrapers, the introduction of elevated highways and parking bans, and other controversies, this book provides a new and often starling perspective on downtown's rise and fall.

More than just history or reporting, this is an elegy by a native son who haslived through some of New York's most historic moments, and continues to callthis magnificent, haunted city his home.

A lively history of the contested landscapes where the majority of Americans now live, "Building Suburbia chronicles two centuries in the birth and development of America's metropolitan regions.
From rustic cottages reached by steamboat to big box stores at the exit ramps of eight-lane highways, Dolores Hayden defines seven eras of suburban development since 1820. An urban historian and architect, she portrays housewives and politicians as well as designers and builders making the decisions that have generated America's diverse suburbs. Residents have sought home, nature, and community in suburbia. Developers have cherished different dreams, seeking profit from economies of scale and increased suburban densities, while lobbying local and federal government to reduce the risk of real estate speculation. Encompassing environmental contr

Downtown America was once the vibrant urban center romanticized in the Petula Clark song--a place where the lights were brighter, where people went to spend their money and forget their worries. But in the second half of the twentieth century, "downtown" became a shadow of its former self, succumbing to economic competition and commercial decline. And the death of Main Streets across the country came to be seen as sadly inexorable, like the passing of an aged loved one.
"Downtown America" cuts beneath the archetypal story of downtown's rise and fall and offers a dynamic new story of urban development in the United States. Moving beyond conventional narratives, Alison Isenberg shows that downtown's trajectory was not dictated by inevitable free market forces or natural life-and-death cycles. Instead, it was the product of human actors-

"A delightful, and surprisingly moving, tale" -- Michael Lewis, bestselling author of "Moneyball
"Karlgaard flies in with a companion concept to David Brooks's "On Paradise Drive" -- Tom Wolfe
"While counterintuitive to those on the conventional fast-track, "Life 2.0 offers great promise to those who are open to personal innovation" -- Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School
"This fascinating treatise will make you think deeply, and may just give you the impetus to uproot" -- Tom Peters
"An original and exhilarating look at options many Americans don't realize are now open to them." -- James Fallows, national correspondent, "The Atlantic Monthly
"Not only will it widen the horizons of your life, it could also renew your health and wealth." -- George Gilder

Have You Found the Where of Your Happiness?

In this study of the digital revolution, renowned economic and social-trend forecaster Kotkin focuses on the revolution's surprising impact on cities, as their traditional role as the centers of creativity and trade crossroads are becoming more essential in a globalized information-age economy.

In "Home from Nowhere", the author of the landmark book "Geography of Nowhere" not only shows that the original American dream--the desire for peaceful, pleasant places in which to work and live--still has a strong hold on our imaginations, but offers innovative, eminently practical ways to make that dream a reality. Photos & line drawings.

A highly praised critique of the modern suburb

What is it about modern American suburbs that has led to so much dissatisfaction? How has the typical suburban design of the past fifty years exacerbated the stress of daily life, and what better alternatives can be found? Philip Langdon crisscrossed the country to see how suburbs are being built and to interview designers, developers, planners, and residents. The first results of his research were published in a cover story in the Atlantic. Since then, he has broadened his analysis to create this well-illustrated and highly readable book.

"American suburbs foster social isolation, dependence on the automobile, long commutes, and segregation of land use, thereby contributing to family distress and urban decay. That damning verdict by Langdon ... informs a much-needed visionary critique of

In the last twenty years, thousands upon thousands of the upper and middle classes have retreated into gated communities. In 2002 it is estimated that one in eight Americans will live in these exclusive neighborhoods. What has sparked this alarming trend?
"Behind the Gates" is Low's revealing account of what life is like inside these suburban fortresses. After years researching and interviewing families in Long Island, New York and San Antonio, Texas, Low provides an inside view of gated communities to help explain why people flee to these enclaves. Parents with children, young married couples, "empty-nesters," and retirees express their need for safety, their secret fears of a more ethnically diverse America, and their desire to recapture the close-knit, picket-fenced communities of their childhood. Ironically, she shows, gated neighb

In the heart of downtown Chicago, on a square block surrounded by major civic landmarks, there stands - absolutely nothing. Why this desolation where there should be a fabulous skyscraper, a vertical money machine? How did this three-acre chunk of prime urban real estate, at one time the hub of a down-at-heel but bustling commercial district, become a blank eyesore, unused and unprofitable? And what does this sad vacancy tell us about the fate not only of Chicago but of nearly every American city in the aftermath of the Age of Excess? Here's the Deal is urban historian Ross Miller's hard-hitting, no-holds barred answer to these troublesome questions. The redevelopment of Block 37, a richly historic site in the heart of the North Loop, was conceived by Mayor Richard J. Daley, his successors in City Hall, and an astonishingly brazen crew of

The bestselling author of "Home" and "A Clearing in the Distance" tells the compelling story of the transformation of a Pennsylvania cornfield into a RneotraditionalS housing development--taking the reader on a revelatory inside tour of real estate in America.

Drawing on architectural history, contemporary urban studies, and vivid, first-hand description, Solnit projects the end of city life for Bohemians and its baleful consequences for American culture. 50 photos.

This life in "the old neighborhood", so lyrically captured by Ray Suarez, was once lived by a huge number of Americans. One in seven of us can directly connect our lineage through just one city, Brooklyn. In 1950, except for Los Angeles, the top ten American cities were all in the Northeast or Midwest, and all had populations over 800,000. Since then, especially since the mid-60s, a way of life has simply vanished.

Ray Suarez, veteran interviewer and host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation "RM"", is a child of Brooklyn who has long been fascinated with the stories behind the largest of our once-great cities. He has talked to longtime residents, recent arrivals, and recent departures; community organizers, priests, cops, and politicians; and scholars who have studied neighborhoods, demographic trends, and social networks. The result is a rich