Library
The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community
We will discuss a classic urbanist book about why we need “third places” outside of work and home, for mental health reasons and the good of communities. These places, once so common in American cities, were disappearing when this book was published in 1989. They’ve continued to dwindle in number since. Ray Oldenburg was a…
Curbing Traffic: The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives
“Curbing Traffic” is about how the Netherlands in general and one city in particular, Delft, created alternatives to driving that were so effective that two-thirds of daily trips are made by transit, on bikes or on foot. The benefits of a “car-light” city are many, the book says, from making life more affordable for families…
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
“The Death and Life of Great American Cities” is a classic book about urbanism. It warned city leaders in 1961 that they were killing cities through their efforts to build highways, demolish old neighborhoods and construct public housing projects. And it described in detail what actually makes neighborhoods and cities safe and successful. The essential…
The 15-Minute City: A Solution to Saving Our Time and Our Planet
“The 15-Minute City” is a plea for urban leaders to rethink how neighborhoods work. The change it advocates: Bring nearly everything people need for daily life within a 15-minute walk, bike ride or bus ride, including housing, work, shopping, health care, education and entertainment. If we did this, the book argues, neighborhoods and cities would…
Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
“Walkable City” explains why cities should create and grow walkable places, and how it can be done. Walkable downtowns and neighborhoods, the book argues, are the key to healthy, prosperous, affordable and appealing cities, and make other urbanist goals, like transit, mixed uses, bike lanes and density possible. Jeff Speck is a city planner who…
Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives
“Human Transit” is a book about how transit works, what allows buses, trains and streetcars to do these things effectively and efficiently, and why these things matter. Its premise is that elected officials, urbanists, riders and even some transit officials barely understand how transit works and, therefore, often make poor decisions about it. Jarrett Walker…
Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America
“Right of Way” is about the rise of pedestrian deaths in America, what causes these fatalities, and why some countries in Europe are seeing the opposite, a decline in auto-related injuries and deaths. It has suggestion for reducing these unnecessary deaths. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta:
Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution
“Streetfight” is the inside story of how New York changed many of its streets, adding bike lanes, launching bike sharing and bus rapid transit and expanding pedestrian infrastructure, including 60 pedestrian plazas. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta: