Death and Life of Great American Cities
We are reading The Death and Life of Great American Cities over three months in Winter 2012. Each week, we will read 1–2 chapters and discuss them on this website. Read along with us!
Jane Jacobs’ writing style is very easy to read. These chapters will not take you a long time to read, but they may completely change your understanding of the city around you. By following along on our blog and mailing list, you will be able to experience this book’s ideas through many different perspectives as our Guides write about each chapter of this book.
We encourage you to leave comments on our blog letting us know what you think of the book as we read it together!
Schedule
February 1:
February 6:
February 13:
February 20:
Part 2, Chapter 7, The Generators of Diversity
February 27:
Part 2, Chapter 8, The Need for Mixed Primary Uses
Part 2, Chapter 9, The Need for Small Blocks
March 5:
Part 2, Chapter 10, The Need for Aged Buildings
Part 2, Chapter 11, The Need for Concentration
March 12:
Part 2, Chapter 12, Some Myths About Diversity
Part 3, Chapter 13, The Self-Destruction of Diversity
March 19:
Part 3, Chapter 14, The Curse of Border Vacuums
Part 3, Chapter 15, Unslumming and Slumming
March 26:
Part 3, Chapter 16, Gradual Money and Cataclysmic Money
Part 4, Chapter 17, Subsidizing Dwellings
April 2:
Part 4, Chapter 18, Erosion of Cities of Attrition of Automobiles
April 9:
Part 4, Chapter 19, Visual Order: its Limitations and Possibilities
Part 4, Chapter 20, Salvaging Projects
April 16:
Part 4, Chapter 21, Governing and Planning Districts
Part 4, Chapter 22, The Kind of Problem a City is
Sweet! I actually just finished reading this over the holidays, so it’ll be good to hear from the Guides!
Looking forward to it!
This was one of the first books I read after I moved to Toronto – picked it up and was browsing through it at a bookstore while I waited for my husband to finish up at the checkout. Needless to say, I couldn’t put it down. I’m looking forward to reading it again and hearing from people who are much more knowledgeable than I.
I am a Planning student in the MES program at Yorku and I am eager to read this book as it is often referred to in many of my classes.
I’m looking forward to following along with the guides, as I think it will provide everyone with different perspectives on the text.
Happy reading!!
Be warned: This could end up being an expensive adventure. If you’re like I am, you’ll end up first of all buying this book (if you are one of those people who borrowed it from the library) and then buying every other book written by Jane Jacobs. Just thought you should know. :)
This is not a hazard to be warned against but a joy to be promised. Ms. Jacobs’ books are not all that expensive, really (although I think my copy of the out-of-print The Question of Separatism wasn’t cheap); they are mostly available in softcover and many of them on the used market. (Although I too wish they were available as e-books.)
After J Jacobs you might look at the work of John Brinckerhoff Jackson, founder of LANDSCAPE magazine.JBJ’s DISCOVERING THE VERNACULAR LANDSCAPE is a good place to start, http://www.autoliterate.blogspot.com/2011/05/john-brinckerhoff-jackson.html
[...] For those of you who are interested in joining the Book Club, I highly recommend it. We are only 3 weeks in so it would not be difficult to catch up. Find more information on the reading schedule here. [...]
[...] week, the chapters for that week will be read and discussed, with one of the ‘Guides’ blogging on the chapters being read [...]