Rural by Design: Maintaining Small Town Character

by Randall Arendt, Elizabeth A. Brabec, Vt.) Environmental Law Foundation (Montpelier

This book is recommended reading for planners preparing to take the AICP exam. Conventional planning techniques just aren't working in many rural and suburbanizing areas. Developments where people merely exist have replaced neighborhoods where people once thrived. Strip malls and checkerboard subdivisions prevail. Randall Arendt argues convincingly that this scenario is not inevitable. In Rural by Design he advocates creative, practical land-use planning techniques to preserve open space and community character. He shows how developments all across America have used these techniques successfully. This book examines a broad spectrum of nitty-gritty design topics in a lively, readable style. Topics range from sewage disposal and farmland preservation to greenway planning for interconnected open space and the design of rural subdivision streets. The book includes numerous case examples of residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects that have used these innovative design techniques. And it takes an in-depth look at the design elements of the traditional town-and how to reinvent those elements in today's communities. Rural by Design appeals to a wide audience. Planners in small towns as well as rural and suburbanizing areas will find practical information to guide them on the job. Planning board members and interested laypeople will find a highly readable, nontechnical reference. And instructors in planning and allied fields will find a valuable textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses.

Genres: Urban Planning

441 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1994

Reviews

[Du · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an early copy of the second edition, and below is my review of that:

A seminal planning book, Rural By Design, by Randall Arendt, was recently released in an updated version, by the American Planner’s Association’s Planners Press. If you have an interest in Planning as a form or a function, this book is one, which will be educational, entertaining and evocative. Not only has the text been updated to include a much more comprehensive and current review of planning options, but the layout and formatting of the text is a delight to read.

In this edition, Mr. Arendt has successfully pulled together many diverse areas of planning practice and most importantly he is communicating their value and their impacts in a vibrant and highly readable manner, which should help people better understand planning as a function and the value of placemaking.

It has been a decade since I read the first edition, and as I read the text and browsed the clear illustrations, I was struck by how useful the information is to rural and urban alike. In many ways the title of the book is a misnomer, because this book is a great tool for new urbanists, small town enthusiasts and those that want to preserve and enhance the open space we all need.

[Sunshine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm reading this for work--a couple of different rural projects--PeEll,WA and Ritzville,WA.