false 30833 10 This book is an attack on current methods of city planning and re-building. It is also an explanation of new principles and an argument for different methods from those now in use. It is the first real alternative to conventional city planning that we have had in this century. Its author, herself a city dweller and an editor of<i> Architectural Forum</i>, is direct and practical in her approach. What, she asks, makes cities work? Why are some neighborhoods full of things to do and see and why are others dull? Why does the crime rate soar in our public housing developments and why are some of our older neighborhoods, despite their evident pov-erty, so much more safe, stable and congenial? Why do some neighborhoods attract interested and responsible populations and why do others degenerate? Why are Boston's North End and the eastern and western extremes of Greenwich Village good neighborhoods and why do orthodox city planners consider them slums? What alternatives are there to current city planning and rebuilding?<br><br>Conventional city planning holds that cities decline because they are blighted by too many people, by mixtures of commercial, industrial and residential uses, by old buildings and narrow streets and by small landholders who stand in the way of large-scale development. Such neighborhoods, they insist, breed apathy and crime, discourage investment and contaminate the areas around them. The response of con-ventional city planning is to tear them down, scatter their inhabitants, lay out super-blocks, and rebuild the area accord-ing to an integrated plan, with the result, as often as not, that the crime rate rises still higher, the new neighborhood is more lifeless than the old one, and the surrounding areas deteriorate even more, until the life of the whole city is threatened.<br><br>But Mrs. Jacobs observes that in any number of cases these very conditions--mixed uses, dense population, old buildings, small blocks, decentralized ownership--create the very opposite of slums, neighborhoods that regenerate themselves spontaneously, that are full of variety and diversity, that attract large numbers of casual visitors and responsible new residents, that encourage investment and revitalize the areas around them. Boston's North End (condemned as a slum by or-thodox planners) is such a neighborhood, and so is Greenwich Village. Rittenhouse Square and Telegraph Hill are others. Nearly every large city can produce still other examples.<br><br>Why then do some city neighborhoods die and why do others flourish? And what can city planners do to avoid the death and encourage the life of our great American cities? The solutions proposed by Mrs. Jacobs in this book represent a sharp break with conventional thinking on the subject and they carry with them the ring of simple truth which marks this book as an inevitable classic of social thought.<br> <br>This edition is set from the first American edition of 1961 and commemorates the seventy-fifth anniversary of Random House. 1289564 book 1961 The Death and Life of Great American Cities total:1510|5:719|4:563|3:200|2:25|1:3| 1510 6500 2876 274 4 3 false false Sat Dec 15 18:59:09 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 15 19:09:03 -0800 2007 Invisible Cities.

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At times a bit scholarly, I forced my way past the less interesting parts (the stuff above my head) to soak up the wisdom that Jane Jacobs imparted in this book. Her insig...more...]]> 4 3 false false Thu Dec 04 11:18:37 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 11:19:59 -0800 2008 Jacobs makes a strong case and repeats it over and over.]]> 0 1 false false Fri Dec 26 16:58:19 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 16:59:06 -0800 2008 3 2 false false Thu Sep 20 00:36:59 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 21:47:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 24 17:32:13 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 12:21:56 -0800 2009
To generate exuberant diversity in a city's streets and districts, four conditions are indispensable: The distrct must serve more than one purpose (preferably more than two), the blocks must be short, the buildings must vary in age and condition, and the population must...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Sep 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 21:24:51 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 21:39:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Aug 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 14:24:45 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 14:31:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 27 13:35:19 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 13:49:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 11:15:40 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 11:21:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Mar 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Feb 23 11:30:41 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 21 16:18:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 10 22:59:52 -0800 2008 Wed Apr 15 23:24:54 -0700 2009
Jacobs does a neat magic trick here, confirming the goo...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Wed Sep 10 07:59:25 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 10 07:59:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Dec 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Aug 18 19:44:53 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 28 19:36:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed May 21 20:45:24 -0700 2008 Sun Feb 08 12:48:23 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 19:34:31 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 15:56:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 16:31:35 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 01 09:28:51 -0800 2009
I bought the book awhile ago, but never got around to reading it; it just did...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 20:22:33 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 20:45:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 06 20:18:58 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 16 20:37:21 -0800 2009
I'm looking forward to reading some more recent of Jacobs' writings, because the context of this book i...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 26 08:46:53 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 26 08:56:57 -0800 2007
1. "The district, an indeed as many of its internal parts as possible, must serve more than one primary function; preferably more than two. These must insure the presence of people who go outdoors on different sch...more...]]>