- Title:
- Suburban Nation
- Subtitle:
- The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
- Author:
- Publisher:
- North Point Press, 2000
- ISBN
- 0-86547-557-1
I was born in the city, and I've lived in the city most of my youth. When I moved to the USA, there was no more city. The place was called a city, but it was a very different place from what I'd become accustomed to.
I never quite knew why living in the USA was so very different from living in Germany. I compared some of the obvious points: in Germany I could walk wherever I wanted, or at least get there quickly by bus or train, while in the USA a car is almost essential. In the USA everyone seems to own a car, while in Germany many people don't even own a driver's license. I noticed the larger distances in the USA, and the tendency to build to a larger scale: malls, shopping centers, and roads. Impressive, sure, but not comfortable.
When I went back to Germany on a business trip some years ago, I found that there the city is disappearing, as well. To me it was a mystery that I blamed on greedy developers and uncaring civic government.
How wrong I was.
Duany and Plater-Zyberk lead a design firm (Plater-Zyberk is also Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Miami), and Speck is director of town planning at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. Their experience has given them a perspective on the big picture that is denied most people who, like me, simply wonder why life is getting so complicated.
Suburban Nation revolves around a central idea, that neighborhoods should be livable. To the authors, that means that it is walkable, that walking is safe, and that the necessities of daily life - shops and services - are all available within walking distance. The trouble with our cities is that our neighborhoods are no longer livable. We can't work there, we can't shop there, we can't get things done there. For everything we have to go elsewhere, which almost always involves driving a car.
The authors proceed by analyzing the differences between traditional, livable neighborhoods, and the new suburban sprawl. The components of sprawl, ranging from governmental regulations to architectural concessions to automobile dependency are analyzed in detail. This is contrasted with the physical needs of communities. They take a look at the effect that sprawl has on people, ranging from kids who are trapped in their dead-end streets to cities who find that the cost of supporting their suburbs is far greater than the tax revenues generated by them.
The picture is bleak, of course, but there is hope. They point at the existence of traditional neighborhoods that work. They list a number of new developments which were designed, from the ground up, to be livable communities. In the end, they present concrete plans for creating communities from suburban sprawl with some considerable detail, even giving guidelines for anti-sprawl zoning regulations.
Everything is wonderfully detailed. There are pictures throughout the book - small, and kept in the almost three-inch wide margins - to illustrate the points made by the authors. Footnotes take commentary out of the reader's way, though they are sometimes more like parenthetical remarks. The bibliography testifies to thorough research, and the index makes the book easy to use at your next planning meeting, should you choose to take it there.
For me the book was a revelation. It became clear to me why I enjoy the old neighborhoods of cities, and why I felt so much more comfortable in the Germany of my youth than in the suburban sprawl of the present. Since I am active in my community's planning meetings, it has also become clear to me that some of our past planning decisions may have been the kind that promote sprawl. I wish I'd had this book twenty years ago!
To say the least, I highly recommend this book. Community planning is something everyone needs to be involved in. If you're not involved now, this book may well convince you to crowd into the next planning commission meeting, notebook and pen in hand.