No comments about Property Asset Management.

No comments about Young and Homeless In Hollywood: Mapping the Social Imaginary.

No comments about People in Cities: The Urban Environment and its Effects (Environment and Behavior).

1 comments about Residential Streets.

1. I purchased this book after hearing a presentation by the author on his ideas on "humanizing" highways. This authoritative book presents the point of view that residential neighborhood streets should be part of the ambience of the neighborhood, and not just efficient vehicle movers. In the author's view, it is OK for kids to use their neighborhood street as a playground, and the street should be designed with enough traffic calming geometry so that it would be safe to do so. This point of view is entirely opposite to the prevailing attitude in the town I live in, where residential streets, even cul-de-sacs, are required to be wide enough for two cars to pass plus a row of parked cars, and as a consequence, residents routinely ask for police enforcement to dicourage cars from speeding on those streets.

   To back up this point of view, the book is a design manual for residential streets, including drainage, intersection design, pavement, sidewalks, bike paths, etc. A municipality wishing to adopt the point of view of the book will find all the specs necessary to incorporate that point of view in its subdivision regulations.

   When I saw this book, I passed it around to everyone influential I knew, and got the town planning department to order two more copies for people to borrow and read.

No comments about Partnerships in Communities: Reweaving The Fabric Of Rural America.

5 comments about Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth in Communities Across America.

1. Solving Sprawl is a wonderfully lively, readable account of how 35 diverse communities from across the nation have managed to find solutions to the problems of sprawl. Examples from urban, suburban, and rural areas demonstrate numerous innovative strategies for protecting the environment while creating attractive, human-friendly places for people to live, work,
   and play. The book is enhanced with photos, maps, and informative sidebars. This is an impressive, inspiring piece of work that succeeds as both an introduction to Smart Growth, and as a guide to translating Smart Growth theory into practice.



2. This is a valuable and much needed reference that offers substance instead of rhetoric about containing sprawl with smart growth-oriented development. It persuasively demonstrates how smart growth projects across the country are succeeding in meeting people's housing and employment needs while minimizing environmental harm. Thirty-five projects are profiled in sections devoted to cities, suburbs, and conservation areas, each with project statistics and contacts. Its geographic diversity is especially impressive, from the nation's largest metropolitan regions to small rural towns. This is one of those rare volumes that works for professionals as a technical reference, and for community officials and citizens as an educational tool. It's an inspiring catalogue of some of the best neighborhoods and communities being developed in America today.



3. "Solving Sprawl" made me want to live in the places the authors describe. For my job, I typically have to read a lot of dry, boring reports and books about planning and policy. By providing great, color photos and true stories about how many of these places were created, I couldn't put this book down. "Solving Sprawl" does something that many people have tried, but few have done this well: it makes the businness of creating more livable communities interesting and engaging. Suddenly, smart growth isn't just something I read about happening in some far away place, it's something that can happen in my town, or anywhere.

   If you are interested in how to make your community a better place to live without being bored to tears with "legalese" and "policy wonk talk," buy this book!!!




4. "Solving Sprawl" made me want to live in the places the authors describe. For my job, I typically have to read a lot of dry, boring reports and books about planning and policy. By providing great, color photos and true stories about how many of these places were created, I couldn't put this book down. "Solving Sprawl" does something that many people have tried, but few have done this well: it makes the businness of creating more livable communities interesting and engaging. Suddenly, smart growth isn't just something I read about happening in some far away place, it's something that can happen in my town, or anywhere.

   If you are interested in how to make your community a better place to live without being bored to tears with "legalese" and "policy wonk talk," buy this book!!!




5. I have an advance copy of this book, and I hope Amazon gives it a full listing soon, because it fills a valuable need - showing people how our communities can grow and prosper without sprawl and the ugliness and damage it brings to our landscape and towns. The authors provide 35 inspiring examples of smart growth - development in cities and suburbs, along with green space preserved - all over the country, while disussing the relevant environmental and social issues.

   Too often, environmentalists are criticized (and rightly so) for being too negative, pointing out problems without presenting solutions that work for the economy and for people's convenience. This book takes a most refreshing opposite approach, and backs it up with color photos and project data. The authors know what they are talking about, too: these are the same folks who wrote Once There Were Greenfields, the meticulously documented handbook on the problems associated with sprawl development. Solving Sprawl is the best thing I've seen yet on smart growth, and it should be a boon for anyone concerned with these issues. It was produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York, which has more information on its web site. Get it - you'll be glad you did.

No comments about Building Change: Architecture, Politics and Cultural Agency.

No comments about Transient Sedimentation (RIEAeuropa Concepts Series).

No comments about MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES OF THE CITY (Networked Cities).

1 comments about Architecture and Politics in Germany, 1918-1945 (Revised Edition).

1. Lane's book does and excellent job at analyzing architecture during the height of germanies history. We are all aware of the politics surrounding the period, but Lane shows the architecture and politics under the same light; as an influence for each other.