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13th out of 40 books
—
23 voters
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
A manifesto by America's most controversial and celebrated town planners, proposing an alternative model for community design.
There is a growing movement in North America to put an end to suburban sprawl and to replace the automobile-based settlement patterns of the past fifty years with a return to more traditional planning principles. This movement stems not only from th...more
There is a growing movement in North America to put an end to suburban sprawl and to replace the automobile-based settlement patterns of the past fifty years with a return to more traditional planning principles. This movement stems not only from th...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 16th 2001
by North Point Press
(first published 2000)
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Clear with good examples (And a very visually pleasing format) BUT the book can be condensed to:
1. Learn lessons from the past.
2. Think beyond self-interest.
3. Believe it can be better.
4. Make it better.
Then again, the American Dream destroys Americans' dreams.
1. Learn lessons from the past.
2. Think beyond self-interest.
3. Believe it can be better.
4. Make it better.
Then again, the American Dream destroys Americans' dreams.
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This was a great read for me. I learned a lot about why I prefer old-style neighboroods to the suburban sprawl. The authors put words on the unconscious thoughts that I usually have as a I walk around the city.
The book is easy to read and funny at times. Emphasizing how sprawl kills our sense of community and how good town planning can create that sense of community and give its citizens a place to care about.
Here is a random list of things that will improve the sense of place. The book covers e...more
The book is easy to read and funny at times. Emphasizing how sprawl kills our sense of community and how good town planning can create that sense of community and give its citizens a place to care about.
Here is a random list of things that will improve the sense of place. The book covers e...more
I read Suburban Nation because of an endorsement from a friend. It's a book about the virtues of traditional, community-oriented town planning as contrasted with the current American tendency toward sprawl and single-use developments (i.e., big houses in one place, big office parks in another place, big shopping centers somewhere else).
I'm not quite sure how to assess the book, because in some ways I loved it, yet in other ways I felt like it kept repeating the same point ad nauseam and that it...more
I'm not quite sure how to assess the book, because in some ways I loved it, yet in other ways I felt like it kept repeating the same point ad nauseam and that it...more
This is an absolute must-read for every American. There is a connection between the built environment and quality of living, public health, economic prosperity and entrepreneurialship. The changes in our building patterns since WW2 have been destructive, unhealthy, and nonfunctional. We can't afford low-density growth in the long run because it costs too much in public infrastructure and makes it nearly impossible for the local economy to survive (i.e.:small-business owners and shops). The book...more
A great introduction to smart growth and sustainable urban design, the first book I've read on the subject. The text is surprisingly ironic and humorous and very well thought-through. Duany et al have a really high aspiration to have America return to a more traditional layout in its development, a development I think we are finally ready for and are excited to have delivered to us. The final chapter still sticks with me: once you've read and understood these principles, he says, you have an obl...more
I read this book for a class about transportation and planning. Think you can't get excited about anything to do with suburbs? Well, you can.
The great thing this book has to offer is answers to all those ills we easily attribute to suburbia, even without knowing it. The unwalkability, the endless parking lots, the lack of downtowns, the traffic, the cul-de-sacs...they all exist for a reason. This book discusses the push towards the fringe and development of car communities. Further, it offers a...more
The great thing this book has to offer is answers to all those ills we easily attribute to suburbia, even without knowing it. The unwalkability, the endless parking lots, the lack of downtowns, the traffic, the cul-de-sacs...they all exist for a reason. This book discusses the push towards the fringe and development of car communities. Further, it offers a...more
This is a good introduction to the concept of sustainable community design. It's not in-depth or detailed, so wouldn't be a good choice for trained designers or architects who are already familiar with the community design literature.
My favorite parts of this book were the ones that explained how Americans stopped building towns and started building "developments" in the 1970s and 1980s. These authors demonstrate, with historical examples, that this method of growth and expansion wasn't inevita...more
My favorite parts of this book were the ones that explained how Americans stopped building towns and started building "developments" in the 1970s and 1980s. These authors demonstrate, with historical examples, that this method of growth and expansion wasn't inevita...more
Sometimes the ideas Duany and his colleagues discuss here seem ridiculously simple, and one might wonder why they keep repeating the same few simple ideas over and over again. Well, they keep repeating them because people keep resisting them, against all the evidence, against all common sense, against their own lived experience. We just keep doing the same things that have gotten us and our communities (or our suburban sad replacements for communities) into such a mess. Some say that insanity is...more
The book can be cleaved into two parts. The first is the analysis of postwar suburban development, which is combines inarguable realities with searing criticism, and is one of the most cogent arguments against modern suburbia I've ever encountered.
The second, and vastly weaker section, is made up of suggestions on how to rebuild our cities, which is the sort of capitalist-happy approach to social problems engendered during the Clinton years.
THEY HOLD UP THE FUCKING DISNEY TOWN IN FLORIDA AS AN I...more
The second, and vastly weaker section, is made up of suggestions on how to rebuild our cities, which is the sort of capitalist-happy approach to social problems engendered during the Clinton years.
THEY HOLD UP THE FUCKING DISNEY TOWN IN FLORIDA AS AN I...more
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This book clearly describes why urban sprawl is so detrimental to society; the many causes of urban sprawl; and how to avoid it in the future. The only weakness was that it was a bit lengthy, and even I lost my gusto for anti-sprawl rhetoric by Chapter 11. I do recommend it to anyone who finds himself trying to explain why subdivisions are so detrimental but can only respond with "Because they suck!!!"
Much like Kunstler's The Geography of Nowhere, except more hopeful.
Suburban Nation is very readable, while remaining technical enough that the reader is conscious of learning something. It suggests workable (proven to be so) solutions that the authors and their colleagues have personally implemented. However, the reader never gets the sense that the authors are tooting their own horn.
They take you through all sorts of things - facts, methods, skills, ordinances, quirks, zoning stupidities - th...more
Suburban Nation is very readable, while remaining technical enough that the reader is conscious of learning something. It suggests workable (proven to be so) solutions that the authors and their colleagues have personally implemented. However, the reader never gets the sense that the authors are tooting their own horn.
They take you through all sorts of things - facts, methods, skills, ordinances, quirks, zoning stupidities - th...more
You should most definitely not read this book*. It will only make you angry, and I'm not casting that in liberal vs. conservative terms because if you really, really are committed to the creation and/or preservation of community and core democratic values then it should be obvious to most that sprawl is not the ideal situation, and the beauty of this book is that it doesn't vilify developers and it recognizes the need to make money and create value and it respects, even encourages, private owner...more
This book is an eyeopener to the specific problems with American growth planning since WWII. The authors have a clear agenda in this book and are up front about it. The clear and very through analysis of what is wrong with American suburban development is dead on and convincing. The book is meant as much to convince as it is to inform, so unlike some books where they outline a social problem the authors here present proven ways of fixing said problem. That said it is a border line technical text...more
This is a great book, especially if you agree with its primary thesis about the evils of sprawl (which I do). It must be noted, however, that its snarky tone, (no doubt amusing to the converted) could alienate those who come from a different perspective. Since I am already persuaded, I particularly liked chapter 7, the Victims of Sprawl, which outlined how suburbia causes a lack of autonomoy in teenagers--along with boredom and depression. "Children [in the suburbs] are frozen in a form of infan...more
A required read for anyone who has wondered why almost any area developed since the 1950s follows the same bland form, how government policy encourages this development, and how to avoid it. Most people living in a suburban setting have probably pondered some of the topics covered. Here they are explained in a contextual and historical setting that connect the dots between a variety of factors.
It's an interesting book for the general reader, yet covers enough detail to be worthwhile for planning...more
It's an interesting book for the general reader, yet covers enough detail to be worthwhile for planning...more
Compare a modern American city to its European counterparts, or even an older American city, and the contrast is striking: American cities seem to have fallen apart, spewing their innards cross the landscape. Indeed, America has taken a radically abnormal approach to urbanism in the last fifty years, building out instead of up. Even while the city centers have been left to fall apart, ‘greater metropolitan areas’ – the mats of low-density sprawl surrounding those decaying centers – have grown. W...more
Automobiles, McMansions, Cul-de-Sacs, wide lanes, bad developers, worse zoning laws, and economic injustice have all sunk American cities by creating unlivable Suburbs. But wait there is hope. Or something like it though PLANNING!
This is an enlightening and insightful overview and one that demands to be kept relevant. The thing is that after this housing market collapse, the whole book is tainted. I could not help but feel, at points, during the expose of what went wrong with urban living, to re...more
This is an enlightening and insightful overview and one that demands to be kept relevant. The thing is that after this housing market collapse, the whole book is tainted. I could not help but feel, at points, during the expose of what went wrong with urban living, to re...more
Suburban Nation explains the concepts that have come to be known as Smart Growth or New Urbanism in the clearest possible terms. The authors have had decades of experience working against the sprawl-inducing design regulations of municipalties nationwide, so they make their points in language that translates easily to the concerns of the people who will actually live in these neighborhoods.
The book contains neither politically charged rhetoric, nor an abundance of design-professional jargon. Ins...more
The book contains neither politically charged rhetoric, nor an abundance of design-professional jargon. Ins...more
This book outlines one of the most important messages for Americans to hear: if we keep building in the way that we have for the past half-century (subdivisions with no sidewalks because there's nothing to walk to, stores plunked down in the middle of highways and vast parking lots, offices set nowhere in particular and devoid of all human activity after 5pm), we shouldn't be surprised by things like increased rates of depression and anxiety, teen suicides and school shootings, voter apathy. The...more
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I'd been expecting (and dreading) a subjective rant on suburbia in the sensationalist style of, say, Eric Schlosser. Instead, what I got was a mostly-straightforward, textbooky-but-conversational account of the anatomy of sprawl, the policies that helped create it, and the negative externalities associated with suburban lifestyles. The second half describes how to rekindle the construction of more sensible urban forms and gives clear descriptions of just...more
Awful. Reads like a children's book. Analysis is constrained to discussions on circles and squares. If we build, Duany may as well be saying, with more squares everything will get better. If they're colored yellow instead of brown; better still. Duany is of the opinion that function follows form. Though, he's an architect, so what can you expect really?
If you want to truly understand Duany's work, perhaps the best place to begin is with Alex Marshall's "How Cities Work".
If you want to truly understand Duany's work, perhaps the best place to begin is with Alex Marshall's "How Cities Work".
I read this book because I am doing research on suburban life for something I am trying to write. 1st half of the book is about how the suburbs have basically destroyed the environment, cities, bankrupted municipalities and damaged little children, moms, and teenagers and turned us into zombies who spend most of our time in cars. In the 2nd half of the book, the authors offer their advice on how to fix the situation.
This is a book that has the potential to be life-changing. People who read it often say things like "I'm going to get involved with this".
If there's any one book that can tell you why America is the way it is, socially and politically, it's this one. I know it's already revered as a classic, but some people may not have heard about it. Most people fail to see how suburbanism is cause of all these social and psychological problems. They fail to see how suburbanism makes us stupid, anti-environme...more
If there's any one book that can tell you why America is the way it is, socially and politically, it's this one. I know it's already revered as a classic, but some people may not have heard about it. Most people fail to see how suburbanism is cause of all these social and psychological problems. They fail to see how suburbanism makes us stupid, anti-environme...more
The authors do an excellent job of both outlining ways to develop that do not induce sprawl, promote neighborhoods, and encourage people to both create and live in places that are the antithesis of sprawl. I appreciated their anecdotes and stories about things that have worked, good ideas that failed, and bad ideas that failed in an epic manner.
They are clear to show examples of how unintended consequences have derailed previous idealistic methods of combating sprawl, as well as examples of how...more
I'm not an architect, but I loved this book. My wife and I often lament the boring and inconvenient layout of most "neighborhoods". This book describes in detail why you loath the housing pod sold to you as a neighborhood. Imagine my surprise when thumbing through it to find that the authors firm played an integral role in designing Seaside, Fl--our family's favorite vacation town. The book drags in some later chapters or it would have received 5 stars from me. New Urbanists Unite!
A book that really got me more interested in urban planning, however it gets a little too preachy and political at times. Also, some of their solutions to suburban sprawl seem a little far-fetched and don't often work. The book does a great job of explaining the problems of sprawl though, and how urban development over the latter half of the 20th Century has changed the face of America greatly.
Good reading for anyone trying to understand why suburbia is built the way it is, how to change it to make it more pedestrian friendly and the consequences and actions of continuing our current growth strategy. The authors are repetitive at times, so feel free to skim when they do, you'll get the premise of the book within the first four chapters of the book.
This is a seminal urban planning work that anyone interested in the topic should read, but it was kinda repetitive. It's a pretty easy read though. I do wonder why a revised 10th anniversary edition of a book with a female author kept reverting to the generic "he" instead of an inclusive they. I don't know the stats for planning, but architecture and other related fields are male-heavy so why continue to contribute to that...
Give me real, walkable neighborhoods, give me mixed zoning, give me my small house on my small parcel of land and I'm happy. My midsize city has a ways to go before it's truly the anti-sprawl utopia I dream of, but this book left me full of hope of what could be, and made me really understand just why I'd always been so. damn. miserable. in the 'burbs.
One of my favorite books of all time. This book really hits the nail right on the head, so to speak, about how we are destroying society by making a world for cars to live in, not people. The author includes many photos and some theoretical ideas about urban planning. Very convincing book. I use it all the time for reference. Great book!
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