Category: Book Review
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Being Mortal
Book Review I recently finished reading Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and the timing was eerily perfect. My 83 year old grandfather has been struggling with health issues which made reading the book easier to relate to and comprehend. I was too young to remember much about the nursing homes my great grandmother and grandmother…
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Suburban Nation
Book Review I enjoy being able read books that were recommended when I was in school, but I was so bogged down with required readings and projects that I never had the time to read them. Suburban Nation by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck is one of those books. I was reminded of…
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The Past and Future City
Book Review Places bring people together and relate our history. While preservation is thought of primarily as ornate and important buildings, it is often the ordinary buildings and neighborhoods that are imbued with meaning through stories and memories. Our sense of self is defined by places, where we are from and what we have learned…
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Copenhagenize
Book Review I have not had the opportunity to visit Copenhagen, but definitely have it on my list for a future vacation after reading Copenhagenize by Mikael Colville-Anderson. It would be incredible to bike in a city that has made a commitment to more than just providing some bike infrastructure, but making a citywide network…
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The New Urban Crisis
Book Review The new urban crisis does not have a simple definition. According to Florida, it encompasses the gap between superstar cities and all other cities where success of superstar cities creates high housing costs and inequity, pushing out the working and service class. The growing inequality, segregation and sorting in all metro areas creates…
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Retrofitting Suburbia
Book Review Despite being published almost ten years ago, Retrofitting Suburbia has many relevant lessons for salvaging suburban sprawl created by generations before us that took the term Euclidean zoning and ran with it. They left downtown’s and created separated districts in the suburbs. One area was for the office towers on the highway, the…
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The Color of Law
Book Review When I started reading The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein I already knew about FHA’s discriminatory practices in lending and redlining from previous research for creating a local historic district in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is also how I found out about restrictive covenants that prohibited people from living in a house based…
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Snob Zones
Book Review In cities across America, residents balk at the idea of density. “Putting twenty-eight homes on just under four acres is crazy.” This is almost the exact density of my neighborhood in Northeast Minneapolis which seems perfect to me. My yard is just the right size to mow with a reel lawn mower, but…
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Street Fight
Book Review One of the most interesting books I have read this year was Street Fight by Janette Sadik-Khan. The title may be misleading for those in the planning profession, but it truly is the story of a fight over space in the streets. Space for not only cars, but pedestrians and bicyclists too. So…
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Bike Lanes Are White Lanes
Book Review For decades bicycle advocates fought against standard transportation planning methods that put the car above all other modes of transportation. They were persistent and finally gained ground in most major cities. As Justin Spinney said, “biking is understood as apple pie; no one can hate apple pie.” The problem now that we have…
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The Planning Lady 