Megan Allison's review
The Suburbanization of New York: Is the World's Greatest City Becoming Just Another Town?
by M. Cooper
Megan Allison's review
The Suburbanization of New York: Is the World's Greatest City Becoming Just Another Town? by M. Cooper
Megan Allison's review
rating:
bookshelves:
currently-reading
recommended for: urbanists, emotional saps, NIMBYs
Most of the essays are firsthand accounts of residents watching their neighborhoods change over time, which serves to pull emotional strings but never really elevates the debate into planning logic. It's compelling and an interesting (if voyeuristic) read for people who care passionately about urban neighborhoods and are interested in their physical transformations. But it's not to be relied upon for an objective assessment of the increasing presence of capital and national brands into New York's neighborhoods; one feels as though most essays ignore (or don't understand) the role of globalization and New York's significance on the national and global stage. Still, for those involved in neighborhood organizing and interested in community-based planning, it's cathartic in a way.
