Rating: 
Summary: Let's Take an Old Fashioned Walk!
Review: Would you like your children to walk to school? to the dentist? to the Boy Scouts at the Community Center? Would you like to walk to the library? to the movies? to the Post Office? Would you like to take a short and comfortable ride to work on public transportation?Only a generation ago all of the above were common. Most people lived in mixed-use neighborhoods. But the suburban life-style that is so dependant upon and so influenced by the automobile has substituted wheels for legs. It has replaced farmlands and woodlands with building sprawl-separate housing developments; separate retail malls; and separate office complexes. Suburban Nation argues for a return to the neighborhood. It describes: how the existing system developed; what factors were responsible; how inefficient it is; and how we can restore neighborhoods. Government was a major impetus for suburbia with: VA and FHA mortgage guarantees; zoning regulations, subsidies and government funding. Encouraging these governmental programs were the auto industry, the oil industry, the road and home builders. What has the suburban life-style brought? Many auto trips each day-for all those things we could accomplish on foot. Car upkeep has reduced the amount we could spend on housing. Despite extensive road building over the years congestion is worse, trips are longer and road rage increases. Thinking has become distorted. Government funding refers to "Highway Investment" as opposed to "Transit Subsidy"; and pays a $300 billion subsidy for trucking while scrutinizing every dollar for transit-yet trucking uses 15 times the fuel for an equivalent job; and 15 lanes of highway move as many people as one lane of track. One-half of air pollution emissions come from motor vehicles. Living in the suburbs is not safer for children. Auto accidents are twenty times more likely than gang activity to result in death. Suicides of teenagers, 12% of youth mortality which sociologists attribute to "teen isolation and boredom", are higher in the suburbs. Restoring the neighborhoods will require regional planning and major rethinking. Multiple use building--housing, stores, offices-will constitute the neighborhood and must be coordinated on a regional basis. Public transit to be successful requires a minimum of seven units per acre. If you answered "Yes" to the questions in the first paragraph, you will find this book valuable; if you answered "No", don't waste your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly Accurate Condemnation of American Sprawl
Review: The authors of this book are experienced urban planners who have a real grasp on why suburban sprawl in America is such a disaster. The key insights in this book pertain to the regulations and business practices that have made sprawl a failure. The traditional cityscape of places like San Francisco, in which all types of business and residential zones are intermixed in an organized street plan, allows people to mix in the most beneficial ways, reach all essential destinations on foot, and gives everyone a stronger sense of community and quality of life. Unfortunately, this type of pleasant urban environment is now illegal in most of the country due to zoning regulations. The authors have a firm grip on the social and political causes of this problem, and solid (if sometimes wishful) recommendations for new policies and regulations that will encourage socially and environmentally beneficial "neighborhoods" rather than stifling subdivisions. Unfortunately, when the authors start editorializing they become rather arrogant and unfocused. The authors are clearly not sociologists but try to be in this book, with plenty of questionable assertions about the elitist influences on sprawl, and a tendency for big statements. Examples include "[real estate developers are] challenging drug dealers and pimps for position in the public's esteem" (pg. 100), and "the default setting for architecture in America is not modernism but vulgarity" (pg. 211 - which is followed by a condemnation of the entire architecture profession). The biggest flaw in this book is economic, as the types of neighborhoods envisioned by the authors can only be successful if their property values increase, which places them out of reach for the type of people who would most like to live there. In the long run however, such stretching of the authors' credibility can be mostly forgiven as they deliver a solid examination of the evils of sprawl and how they can be counteracted.
Rating:
Summary: An Absolutely Fantastic Book
Review: I am not an architect or city planner, but I believe this book would be an interesting and informative read for anyone. It provides a lot of information and references for a professional and it is a great starting point for an amateur or concerned and active citizen. Additionally (and very difficult to accomplish all three), it is a very pleasant read for anyone else who wants to learn more about designing a neighborhood, how cities form, how to combat environmental destruction or simply why they do or don't enjoy a specific neighborhood. Part of the success of this book for me was the format. There are small pages with wide margins. The margins allow for small black & white pictures directly next to the text they illustrate. The pictures by themselves are not very good, but they illustrate the text very well. Additionally, the authors used two systems of footnotes/endnotes (a system that I have not seen before) that expand and clarify the story very well, without bogging it down. For asides or amplifications, they have footnotes that you can quickly read, after you have finished your current line of thought. These sources are not always completely referenced, sometimes the authors only reference a series, article, or individual book; but if you are interested the source along with some additional thoughts from the authors are available. For the sources they are citing, the authors use a typical endnote system. This book is a call to action. The authors try to explain the current problems with our cities (and consequently our lives) and some of their solutions. They do a very good job explaining their views, and I believe present a very convincing argument that these problems do not have one source or solution. The authors present problems with our cities today as problems that cut across all economic, social, environmental, occupational & cultural boundaries; and that only traditional neighborhoods cut across all these boundaries to solve these problems. The authors do NOT say that only architects or city planners can solve the major problems facing society today. Quite the opposite; they say that only an educated citizenry can solve these problems if they act truly collectively, and the only mechanism that they have seen that brings people together (across the above-mentioned boundaries) is a "traditional neighborhood". I don't believe the authors are Ludites or are in any way opposed to modern technology or science; however, their basic position is that we need to re-read the texts from 100 years ago and stop using the latest gee-whiz-bang theory to design our cities and guide our lives. If fact, they directly state that experimentation is good; but that we should experiment on the rich because if the latest theory is cracked, the rich can always afford to move! Unfortunately, the rich and powerful seem to know that not all of the latest theories come out perfect the first time, so modern society experiments on the poor, with the predictable results. Everyone should read this book!
Rating:
Summary: The bible for city planners
Review: Anyone who is attracted to a book like this is already predisposed to disliking suburbs. But this book goes beyond the aesthetics of cul-de-sacs of manicured lawns, strip malls, and eight-lane roads. This book explains why suburban planning is costing us in terms of taxes, natural resources and societal well-being. (I never thought much about how much extra concrete and asphalt were needed, let alone wiring, water & gas supply, etc. - simply because of the shape and layout of the lots.) It also explains how traffic congestion is like a gas (expands to fill the space) - the more capacity that is created to accomodate traffic, the more cars that will use that capacity - congestion has a natural equilibrium. e.g. a 10-lane highway at peak is just as crowded and slow as a 2-lane highway at peak. After reading this book (which I could not put down) I not only understand why we have to cure suburban sprawl in general, but it also helps me to keep an eye on my own (urban) neighborhood - what types of development to encourage and what to oppose.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing, insightful, and full of useful and great ideas
Review: This book contains a goldmine of information and should be required reading for all city planners, developers, builders, and citizens interested in creating a better world for themselves and their children. Suburban Nation examines what has gone wrong in America in the post World War II era and how decisions by governments, developers, and citizens have led to a pattern of development that has resulted in rampant sprawl. The authors adroitly demonstrate how sprawl has spawned a number of mind-numbing problems facing nearly all U.S. Cities from traffic congestion to increased commute time to urban air pollution to excessive fuel consumption to loss of open space to our utter dependence on the automobile. Suburban Nation looks not just at the urban fringe--the suburbs--but also examines what has happened to the urban core, the inner cities so often impoverished by our rush to develop on the periphery. Most of the book, however, concentrates on what we can do to remake our cities and suburbs, creating more traditional and more liveable neighborhoods that people are proud to call their home. The authors present their case logically and convincingly--and offer solid evidence to back up their claims. They bring years of experience to the field. They are not purveyors of pie-in-the-sky idealism. I found the solutions refreshing and invigorating, and realistic. What is more, they help meet social, economic, and environmental goals. My only complaint about the book is that the photos and drawings are so tiny as to be barely visible. Hopefully, the publisher will rectify that problem in another printing?
Rating:
Summary: One of the ten best books on American life
Review: I found this book intriguing, because the authors understand why I like my neighborhood. Even better, they understand why I hate so many new housing projects. This is an important book, as vital as Jane Jacobs' work, and it has some uncomfortable truths to share. The US has become a Suburban Nation; a nation of badly-designed suburbs. The newest, more expensive ones are some of the worst. My neighborhood has houses that are smallish, but sidewalks are everywhere. There are stores within reasonable walking distance, and not too many cul-de-sacs. Three parks are less than a mile away. That means I can walk more than one route to get places. More importantly, others walk the neighborhood too, so I actually meet my neighbors. A neighborhood built almost 50 years ago, the trees are mature (a rarity in Silicon Valley burbs) and provide shade, coolness, and beauty. 8000 square foot lots are neither so small that the houses are crushed together nor so large that walking seems to get you nowhere because it takes too long to pass each property. Contrast this with the new developments going in: miniscule yards (and therefore little greenery), matchstick trees that don't receive any sun, overly wide arterials that offer only one way into or out of the development. Walls around the complex not only keep outsiders out, they prevent insiders from going out, too, unless they get in the car and crowd onto the only access road. Once in one's car, there is no opportunity to talk with neighbors on the inside, either. Before reading Suburban Nation, I still had the same sense of what made a neighborhood compelling and we bought our home accordingly, preferring the old small house over the big new ones despite my need for closet space. Authors Duany, Plater-Zybeck, and Speck articulate these principals clearly and enjoyably. With many photographs illustrating both good and bad examples of city planning, Suburban Nation shows the consequences of bad assumptions as well as bad results. The authors like Winter Park, FL, because its downtown is walkable and residents, most of them retired and many who have given up driving, can easily participate in community life. They hate most of the new burbs being built because there is no there there, there's just a road from here to somewhere else with no central gathering point. Most of the failure of the modern suburb is due to the automobile. Wider roads make a community less cohesive, because a wide road encourages speeding, while a narrow one encourages drivers to slow down, regardless of the posted speed limit. New communities have ridiculously wide roads, which not only lead to unsafe traffic but also discourages pedestrians. Cul-de-sacs, corners, and curves are overly wide as well, to accomodate uneeded 40 foot fire trucks; completely unneeded in a suburb where no building is over two stories but purchased by town councils wanting their fire chiefs to be happy. The net result is a 120 foot walk to cross a street instead of 40 feet because the corners are shaved to allow the stupid fire truck access, the fire truck the suburb DOES NOT NEED because a smaller truck would do just as good a job. People claim to want to live in the suburbs for a smaller community, but the way they are built frustrates any chance of finding it. Planners consider schools to be traffic nuisances and build them away from central locations, yet larger schools are what leads to disconnection. Putting them on the boundaries instead of the center of town destroys a chance of meeting other children from the neighborhood, and further increases car usage. The authors ask why a school is considered a traffic nuisance rather than making them smaller to be community assets? Duany and Plater-Zybeck have designed some marvelous new communities, and hope this well-written and ground-breaking book will publicize why they succeed. The first step is repealing the planning rules that prevent all these elements of vital community. Read Suburban Nation and find out how community building begins with good design.
Rating:
Summary: Yes Yes Yes
Review: I've just finished "Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl & the Decline of the American Dream" by architects/planners Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck. It's not just about the spread of sprawl; it's also about the consequent decline in community and public participation, since you can't have a sense of community when you're spread all over the countryside and have no geographic focus. The authors' thesis is that suburban sprawl is cheap only because it is massively subsidized, often, and ironically, by the very people who are forced by economics to remain behind in the cities (they can't afford cars); that the way out of urban-suburban traffic jams it TND, or traditional neighborhood development. They say that you can't build enough roads to handle all of the demand -- indeed, that building more roads, and widening existing roads, causes MORE traffic. You can't tax the property you've paved. And, furthermore, that wider roads encourage speeding and speed-related traffic injury and death, while making pedestrianism unattractive, if not a dangerous occupation. Their solutions, explained and illustrated in the book (favorably mentioning some of my favorite places, such as Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria -- designs that would be illegal these days), include, in no particular order... <> grid layout for neighborhood streets to lessen dependence on overused feeder roads (and autos, generally) <> mixed-income residential development to create a diverse community (horrors!) <> balanced mix of residences, businesses, shopping, recreation, and public buildings so everything is within walking distance (and so older people and children are not stranded, as they are in the suburbs, since they don't drive) <> narrow two-way streets, with parallel parking, to calm traffic and make sidewalks attractive to pedestrians <> avoidance of cul de sacs and winding streets, avoidance of wide street turning radiuses (which encourage speeding and endanger pedestrians) <> higher density development to maximize the usefulness of public transit and minimize dependence on autos (and dry, dignified places to wait for transit) <> accommodation of site topography and encouragement of unconventional intersections (which calm traffic) <> civic squares, plazas, a general store (subsidized, if necessary), a school or schools, a post office <> residences facing the street, with short, inviting setbacks and parking accessed by alleys in the rear (no garages facing the street) <> a diversity of housing types in close proximity; apartments above commercial space; subsidized housing stylistically similar to the rest <> businesses fronting directly on the street with only street parking in front (parallel parking on the street) <> all buildings with flat fronts and simple roofs, and (except for tiny homes) at least two stories tall <> most parking lots to the rear of buildings, with pedestrian-friendly parking-to-shopping passages (e.g., lined by shop windows) <> multi-point street connection with neighboring developments to lessen dependence on feeder roads I used to live in Atlanta, where these ideas could go a long way to alleviate the chronic congestion there. And I was thrilled to read all of these ideas. I kept saying, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" like Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally..." Well, maybe not that enthusiastically, but the authors had put in writing what I had long been thinking. The only problems are (a) some of these excellent ideas, which worked in communities 50 years old and older, are illegal today, under current sprawl-induced planning and zoning ordinances, and (b) there is considerable resistance to the regional planning authority necessary to encourage these standards. So maybe it's just a dream. I don't want bigger government, but I wouldn't mind more effective government. And I live in a city with a well-run public transportation system -- by choice. Yeah, I can afford a car. But I still hate driving.
Rating:
Summary: Good book with minor flaws
Review: My comments regarding this book differ little from the other positive reviews it has been receiving by other readers. It is important that Americans understand the social ramifications of how they develop. The architecture of our homes and communities reflects the our values and how we view ourselves relative to our community. Recent trends in home and neighborhood development reveal a highly individualistic value system that excludes it participation in the larger community and neighborhood. As mentioned in the book, Americans do a great job in making the inside of homes extremely livable, but do a poor job in integrating that home, and the family living in that home, with the neighborhood. Homes are built as insulators from other people. A community of insulated homes and isolated people is best described in the terms the authors use for modern suburban development. My only complaint with this book is that it carries an underlying hint of elitism and makes the fatal mistake of assuming poorly planned development can be blamed for all nagging social ills. True, our social values determine how we build and develop, and isolated designs can induce negative social outcomes, but these experts focus too closely on their own field of expertise and lose sight of the larger picture. For example, perhaps TV watching has a large part in explaining Americas decline in it sense of community. This book will be a source of information on how prudent and farsighted development can be acheived, but readers should be aware of the attitude these writors bring with this important work.
Rating: 
Summary: accurate diagnosis, wrong solution
Review: Like most socialists since Karl Marks, the authors of this book accurately diagnose the problem and then prescribe a solution that will only make things worse. Of course I agree that American suburbia is a horrible disaster. But what caused it? The authors hint at the answer which seems to be land use zoning instituted by local government. The authors also describe how this zoning leads to corruption, so large developers are the only ones who can survive in this corrupt and bureaucratic environment. And what remedy do the authors offer? Why, more and "better" government, of course. What they fail to mention is that most of the old towns and cities that they so admire were built without any of this regulation. What these old towns did was to do their job and let the private sector do its job. The job of local government is to take responsibility for public space and institutions. That means that local government, not private developers, should lay out and build the roads. Local government should build public parks, playgrounds, civic buildings, many nice public schools, etc. That is what local government used to do in the US. These days, instead of doing their job, local government (and all government for that matter) spend time meddling and interfering in the private sector. The nightmare that we all recognize as American suburbia is caused by both the fact that local government is not doing what it needs to do and that local government is preventing the private sector from doing what the private sector needs to do. Simply eliminating land use and density zoning would solve many of the problems described in this book. Some quotes to describe the above: "If we truly want to curtail sprawl, we must acknowledge that automotive mobility is a no-win game, and that the only long-term solutions to traffic are public transportation and coordinated land use." What nonsense. Like most Leftists, the authors hate the freedom that the car has given people. Why can't we eliminate sprawl by having high density, pedestrian friendly towns interconnected with massive highways? There is no conflict between pedestrians and cars when the needs of each are satisfied separately. And another: "a federal initiative is needed to better coordinate those policies which now govern the apparently distinct objectives of affordable housing provision, business assistance, job creation, and social services." This big government nonsense speaks for itself. So this book gets 2 stars for its accurate description of everything that is wrong with suburbia. But it is a depressing reminder that the only major forces in our country are corporate fascists and big government socialists. The enterprising spirit of individual freedom and civic duty that created those wonderful old towns and cities and all that was good in America is now extinct.
Rating: 
Summary: Nonsense
Review: A bunch of unsupported and absurd claims. Because the author wishes this does not make it true. Do not waste your money.
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