A Better Place to Live : reshaping the American Suburb. / txt
Philip Langdon.
- xvi, 270 p. ill. ; 24 cm. book
Include index.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Preface ix -- Acknowledgments xv -- One America’s Failing suburbs 1 -- Two Streets and Where They Lead Us 27 -- Three The Rise of Marketing and the Decline of Planning 62 -- Four Controlling the Neighborhood 86 -- Five the Rediscovery of the Town 107 -- Six Turning Around the American House 148 -- Seven Work, Shopping, and Transportation 172 -- Eight What Government Can Do 200 -- Nine Repairing the Existing Suburbs 219 -- Ten Prospects for a New Vision 236 -- Notes 245 -- Suggested Further Reading 253 -- Illustration Credits 259 -- Index 261 --
What is it about modern American suburbs that has led to so much dissatisfaction? How has the typical suburban design of the past fifty years exacerbated the stress of daily life, and what better alternatives can be found? With these questions in mind, Philip Langdon crisscrossed the country to see how suburbs are being built and to interview designers, developers, planners, and residents. The first results of his research were published in a 1988 cover story in the Atlantic. Since then, he has broadened his analysis to create this well-illustrated and highly readable book. Training his eye on houses, streets, parks, gathering places, stores, employment and transportation, Langdon shows how these elements can generate frustration and isolation or, under better circumstances, contribute to a more congenial way of life. He points out the underappreciated virtues of older suburbs and takes a close look at the neotraditionalist movement in community design, whose advocates seek to emulate the most pleasing aspects of older suburbs. Without ignoring the obstacles to change, Langdon shows how suburbs could be designed much differently than they are today - with networks of walkable streets, neighborhood stores and gathering places, compact town centers, and more varied and affordable housing. His book provides both an incisive critique of existing practices and an intriguing glimpse of some of the best work being done by a new generation of community designers --
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Suburbs--Planning.--United States City planning--United States