books:

	• The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Modern Library Series) Modern Library, 1993 - 624 pages average customer review:based on 64 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Jacobs is able to show that the real problem with cities isn't overpopulation - rather, it is exactly the opposite! The major problem with cities today is that they aren't dense enough. Empty sidewalks are inviting only to criminals. Children, shop keepers, and families hate an empty sidewalk.

Furthermore, city planners compound the situation by moving businesses (and therefore commerce) away from residences - thus resulting in a further decline of sidewalk traffic.

If you're going to be involved in city government, planning, or land use, you should definitely read this book. I'm a small government conservative, and lots of other conservatives are scared by Jacobs -- but let me tell you -- this is the future of America. We should accept and embrace this urban challenge.

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A landmark piece of work

I've been reading a lot lately about urban planning, because after having moved to Silicon Valley I couldn't help but notice how different the place looked from the European cities that I was used to. My curiosity about why the place looks so different and barren was satisfied by reading Suburban Nation. But in the course of reading that, and a great many other books on the same subject, I couldn't help but notice dozens of citations from The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Now I can see why. It's hard to believe that something so insightful could have been written when it was, and that so much of the well-researched and well-argued material was ignored by the planners who went ahead with the malling and sprawling of the west.

Today I see the same mistakes being repeated in my own country, Ireland, where catering for the needs of the automobile at the expense of everything else is going ahead with the same indecent haste that it did in the USA all those years ago.

This book is very detailed and comprehensive, a lot more so than much of the more recent works on this very topic. It can be heavy reading at times though, Ms Jacobs does tend to talk about certain concepts in a general and abstract way and could use more examples to explain what she's saying, but if you concentrate hard enough you will find it well worth it.

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Chicagolander

Everything about this book makes sense. As a resident of a suburb of Chicago, every time I go to the city I see a few parts that are fascinating and energetic, and others that seem so unhealthy. This book makes all of that make so much more sense. The areas that I see that are interesting and successful have diverse primary uses -- the cultural centers, commerce and residences are all together. They have a mixture of old and new buildings so that less profitable ventures that still draw people can continue to fluourish. They have public transportationn that even I can figure out and a variety of obstacles make driving incovenient (and encourage people to use more efficient buses and trains). The sidewalks are broad and people watch out for each other, even though there are plenty of crazies. Places like this, like Michigan Avenue, show me that Mrs. Jacobs at least had some things right about the properties of vital cities.

What saddens me though is that it doesn't seem as though her ideas have caught on in the slums of Chicago. The city still knocks down places that don't function, rather than encouraging people to stay and try and make it work. Why does no one try her ideas for encouraging the unslumming of slums? And if they have, why don't these ideas become more widespread? Why are people continuing to try to expand road space rather than focusing on the attrition of vehicles? The fact that after more than 40 years Mrs. Jacobs' ideas don't seem to have been sufficiently tested makes me sad.

Anyway, I strongly recommend this book, it's easy to understand and very interesting. Read it. Think about it.

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