Toward the Livable City

Rating:
Summary: A better place to live
Review: My home town is developing an Arkansas River Master Plan in an effort to merge the river and city into some type of livable arrangement that will be both sensitive to the environment and the needs of residents along the river as well as through out the community. Thus, I was most interested in the theme of this book; that being urban planning.
The book is a series of seventeen essays by a panel of respected contributors that discusses innovative proposals and doable strategies for dealing with such intense urban issues as sustainable growth, traffic management, safe neighborhoods and riverfront redevelopment in a non-technical manner that tends to fill in the gaps between those that study such matters and those that actually live them. For example, in "City Places, Sacred Places," Terrell Dixon urges the reader to consider the notion that an urban nature walk is not an oxymoron and indeed is vital to American cities. The essay titled "The Region, the True City," by Myron Orfield argues the city and suburbs are intertwined and the old fashioned idea of working together is, after all, the best policy. Two essays, "Reinventing A Vibrant Riverfront," by Judith A.Martin and "The Empty Harbor and the Dilemma of Waterfront Development," by Phillip Lopate deal with water development issues in Minneapolis and New York respectively and will be of particular interest to all those remotely interested in planning for any type of River development.
In addition to the thought provoking essays there is a helpful reading list, a listing of Public Interest Organizations complete with websites and a comprehensive index.
This is a must have book for anyone interested in the concept of a truly livable city regardless of their level of expertise or involvement. The contributors manage to seriously discuss the possibilities of a livable city without succumbing to the usual tendency of discussing eye-glazing issues like tax policy, arcane zoning matters and other issues traditionally favored by city builders, planners and other professionals. The book will appeal both to the professional and layman alike and will help bring the readr up to speed on the latest proposals, ideas and suggestions to make our cities and yes, even our rivers, a better place to live.