4 comments about The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books).

1. THE COUNTRY IN THE CITY: THE GREENING OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA should be a 'most' for any San Francisco Bay Area or comprehensive California library, whether it be a college-level or public lending collection. Students of California history and geography alike will appreciate this story of how the Bay Area's greenbelt was planned into an urban environment - and how each piece of it was fought for. From environmental battles which spread out to affect urban policies across the country to the involvement of businesses and individuals like, THE COUNTRY IN THE CITY is packed with insights on how early conservation affects today's urban environment, making it a fine pick for any collection interested in urban planning, ecology, or Bay Area history alike.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. This book really helped me understand the world I was born into--Berkeley in the late 1950s. As Richard Walker points out, that world reflected the work of countless Bay Area activists reaching back to John Muir. Many were civic-minded and dedicated women, and some started or built environmental organizations with national impact. This book describes it all: the people, the organizations, the issues, the victories (always temporary), the challenges, and the movement's shortcomings and unintended consequences.
   
   Always attuned to class issues, Walker acknowledges that these movements were mostly led by upper-class folks and ultimately turned parts of the Bay Area (e.g., Marin) into lightly populated enclaves for the well off. Working families in the Bay Area have had great access to public parks and the coast, but activists so far have done little to impede the siting of toxic nastiness in low-income neighborhoods. Walker questions the link between efforts to slow or stop growth and the Bay Area's high housing prices, but he notes that the growth that has occurred--in the eastern part of Contra Costa County and the San Joaquin Valley, for example--isn't very smart and may be linked to the inner Bay Area's aversion to virtually any growth at all. At the end of the day, though, it's hard to resist Walker's conclusion that Bay Area residents have plenty to be thankful for. Highly recommended.



3. Professor Walker's book is a solidly researched, comprehensive history of the environmental movement in the Bay Area. Written in a clear, accessible style, the book covers a century of landsaving, from the early days of the Sierra Club to the exciting years from 1965-75 when most of our environmental protection laws were passed, to the recent use of land trusts , conservation easements, and urban growth boundaries to safeguard the Bay Area's precious green heritage. This book will stand, along with John Hart's "Legacy" and Amy Meyer's "New Guardians for the Golden Gate" as the canonical texts in the environmental history of California for years to come.



4. While this book was a bit academic and long on details, I found it a pleasant and easy read. I am a Bay Area resident and a NYC transplant and have marveled at the accessibility of the Bay Area's natural beauty and recreation.
   
   I love the SF Bay Area for its beauty and outdoors and I wanted to know how it happened and who to thank. Now I know.
   
   Another book worth considering, which is much more specific to the creation of one area is New Guardians for the Golden Gate: How America Got a Great National Park

No comments about Urban Villages and the Making of Communities.

2 comments about Space is the Machine: A Configurational Theory of Architecture.

1. Ever been frustrated? Ever been confused? Ever been disgusted by mediocrity??? Then read Bill Hillier. He is the prophet and this is the Bible of Urban Design and Architecture.



2. I am a graduate student in the College of Architecture at Texas Tech University and this book was required for an Urban Design and Planning Class. I have read the book three times and am writing a lengthy research report based on the book. I have found the book to be very beneficial to the understanding of Spatial Analysis and why people use space as they do. It is a very complex and cumbersome read, however, it is extremely beneficial to those studying urban planning and building design. It was an excellant addition to my library and I recommend it to other colleagues in my field of Architecture. Bill Hillier brings up many points which support his theories and gives excellant graphics throughout the book to help explain the concepts he presents. His models have been an influence in the production of my own Master's Thesis and will give an excellant basis to my own aspirations towards design of public buildings and space. He also has another book which precedes this text: the title is The Social Logic of Space. Space Is The Machine is basically the sequel to The Social Logic of Space.

No comments about The Critical Seventies: Architecture and Urban Planning in the Netherlands 1968-1982.

No comments about Asian Ethical Urbanism: A Radical Postmodern Perspective.

No comments about Graphics for Urban Design.

No comments about Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space.

No comments about Urban Open Space: Designing For User Needs (Landscape Architecture Foundation Land an Community Design Case Study Series).

No comments about Dwelling, Seeing, and Designing: Toward a Phenomenological Ecology (Suny Series in Environmental and Architectural Phenomenology).

No comments about The Genius of Architecture;: or, The Analogy of That Art with Our Sensations (Texts and Documents Series).