Customer Reviews

City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Village

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book provides brevity with depth. It reminds you about all those little things that sometimes get left out during development, but which make a world of difference to the people who live in it. Plenty of examples are provided, usually with the thought behind why they work. The author clearly enjoys his native city because almost all the examples come from the Northwest, but this makes them no less impactful. I highly recommend this book to students of architecture/planning, developers, city officials, or anyone who has an interest in the "little things" that make our built environment better. This would be a GREAT book for anyone who has any influence in high growth subruban areas--neighborhood assns., zoning officials, subdivision developers, etc. Enjoy!

In the first couple of pages of this book, David Sucher captures the struggle of modern urban planning: how do you make a place feel "urban" (bustling, a degree of anonymity, culture and complexity) and like a "village" (friendly, natural, community-oriented) at the same time?

The answers are here, in refreshingly easy-to-understand language that is also easy to implement. Good planning isn't a mystery, but so many cities and towns have done it so poorly for so long. I like to think that American planning is at the beginning of a renaissance (I have to think that, I'm in planning school) and people like David Sucher are making it happen. This should be on your shelf next to Jane Jacobs and William H. Whyte.

I am so glad that David Sucher has revised and reissued this book. I used the first edition for several courses that I teach in community development and urban planning, and I know of no better single volume text on urban design issues. The new edition is even better. The book is particularly useful for those who have an interest in planning and design issues, but have limited technical training or experience. As a consequence, it makes excellent reading for city planning commissioners.

This is a fantastic book detailing all the little amenities that make great urban places. Copiously illustrated and simple to follow, planning departments everywhere should invest in multiple copies for the members of their boards and commissions. This is a must have work for anyone interested in quality of life.

This is an absolutely wonderful little book. Don't let its small size and informal demeanor fool you - It is a very thorough, practical, and well reasoned guide (and yes, it is a guide, not just a bunch of theory with questionable applicablility in the real world) to designing urban areas with people in mind. Sucher has done a tremendous job of creating a book that is straightforward and easy to read, but still a serious work of planning and design. If you have any interest at all in those subjects, this is one book you should definitely have in your collection.

A great book, no matter what your area of emloyment or study! Everyone who is interested in better neighborhoods and friendlier living within communities should read this book. It's easily accessible, upbeat, and totally practical. This slim volume offers wonderful soloutions to problems that face every community. I would recommend it to anyone, and have given it as gifts to several people I know. (I'm secretly hoping that there will be a follow-up to this book.) This is really a book you will be glad you've read!

City Comforts was interesting, informative, and easy to read. The book discusses simple planning and architectural changes that can make a city a more comfortable place. These changes revolve around bringing people together, creating pedestrian oriented neighborhoods and shopping centers, slowing down traffic, and making various services easily accessible to people.

To prove his points, Sucher uses both written ideas and pictures. The pictures are especially welcome because they give the reader a visual demonstration of his ideas. For instance, one of the suggestions Sucher makes in order to create a pedestrian oriented city is to put parking lots behind, above, or below (never in front of) the building in question. Rather than just discussing how this is done, Sucher puts in a color photo of a building that follows his advice in regards to parking lots. In addition to easily showing what Sucher means, the pictures also make the pages more colorful and the book easier to read.

One other thing that I liked about City Comforts was that the book explained every architectural and planning related detail in simple terms. Even someone with no experience with either of these subjects (like me) could understand this text.

Since Sucher's ideas have the potential to be very beneficial (in my opinion), I would recommend this book to anyone involved with city planning or architecture. However, anyone can enjoy City Comforts.

I recently read City Comforts after I remembered that a friend recommended it. For the most part, I like the book. I read it in about 3 or so hours (lots of photos) and found it inspiring and helpful. For those who don't know much about urban design, planning, or site review, I think this would be a helpful book.

From a City Planner's perspective, I think most planners will find that the concepts are not new. That being said, having them in an easy to reference book is helpful especially because it can be recommend to developers and commission members to get them thinking. This is by no means a bible or an authoritative guide to all that's possible but, as Sucher mentions, these are examples that he likes and that he's found. Most of the book seems repetitive and probably could have been explained in a large pamphlet but then again, I'm a planner and he's writing to a larger audience. If anything, I'll take his advice and start taking more photos of things I like.