Customer Reviews

Downtown: Its Rise and Fall, 1880-1950

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

 

 

This massive undertaking certainly fulfills its primary function of assembling, in one place, the various threads of intellectual discourse about the American central business district before 1950. It fills an interesting void in the literature by examining the details of why central business districts in American cities went from virtually uniform vitality in the 1920s to a post-war situaton where the signs of decline were everywhere to be seen. The writing is somewhat tedious, however, perhaps because the same points are made over and over again from different angles and from different urban areas. The author does a brilliant job of tracing the influence of a wide variety of attempted urban paneceas, ranging from highways and elevated railroads to removal of "blight." By concentrating on details (only Chicago, for instance, has consistently banned on-street parking in the downtown area), the reader is forced to examine individual issues, not maga-trends. One can only admire the scholarship and devotion to accuracy that went into the writing. My reservation about this book stems from the fact that the author eschews any analysis of the implications of his observations. He comments, for example, that the future of downtown rests upon individual residential choices and seemingly rejects the hope that intervention, in the form of government or privately financed sports facilities, convention centers, etc. will in the long run have much effect. However, the reader is left to wonder what the view of the author is on such issues as growth boundries, light rail, tax abatements, historic preservation, etc. - or even whether the author believes that the future of the central business district matters very much at all. It would have been a much more satisfying experience for me if each chapter or perhaps an endnote had pulled back from the natural reluctance of the historian to look into the future. In the end, the reader is left to undertake that task alone which, I suspect, is what the author had in mind all along.

Much of this book describes downtown in its early years of decline (1920-50): as cars and highways mushrooomed, shopping begin to move outside downtown. The solutions to this state of affairs were completely counterproductive: downtown business interests assumed that downtown's problem was too much congestion rather than too little, and so fought for a downtown overrun with parking lots and highways. For example, an official of one downtown business group in Los Angeles wrote in 1940 that freeways "will go a long way in solving the traffic problems and consequently make the trip to downtown Los Angeles pleasant for customers and productive for downtown merchants and office tenants alike, and thereby recentralize businesses and offices in a compact area." (p. 274).

The result: even more suburban sprawl as suburbanites took advantage of easier commutes to move further out, and an even deader downtown as highways and parking lots took the place of shops and offices.

Why did downtown boosters make this mistake? Because in downtown's heyday at the start of the century, downtown really was immensely congested; due to the difficulties of intracity travel, nearly all business was downtown. So like generals fighting the last war, downtown boosters were fixated on the congested downtown of 1900, and trying to apply 1900 solutions to the far less lively downtowns of the late 20th century.

This is a wonderful book; it is comprehensively researched and offers a detailed history of why US downtowns developed and declined. Anybody who is interested in urban planning and downtown revitalization should read this to see why downtowns were successful for so many years and why they fell; for example, a current trend is to revitalize downtowns by attracting more residents, but 19th century downtowns developed by pushing out residents in favor of commercial growth. I couldn't put this book down; it's absolutely compelling and I would highly recommend it.

This is an objective and highly readable history of the decentralization of American cities and the many efforts to stem the decline of downtown. The book's descriptions of the debates and strategies employed to maintain the dominance of downtown in light of suburban growth, the decline of public transit, the construction of urban highways and the rise of outlying shopping centers are intriguing. Some examples: Early subway projects were sometimes opposed as being a fruitless strategy to decrease congestion because they would only lead to more intense development that would bring increased downtown congestion (an argument often heard today regarding highway projects). Highways into downtown were viewed by many as a way to woo suburbanites back downtown, while they turned out to be a major impetus to suburban development. The atom bomb explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki led some planners to advocate for the end of high density settlements as being too risky in the nuclear age. The book doesn't get preachy the way many "planning" books do. It is an objective history that simply tells it like it is.

Fogelson's Downtown is a scholarly, though at times disjoint, review of the forces that shaped the cities of America during the 70 year span from 1880 to 1950.

Downtown offers a thorough treatment of several topics such as the formation of a central business district, transportation issues and the battle over building height limits. This book is not a light and breezy read, however. Each topic is explored in great detail and, though there is some overlap between the topics, the book does not make any attempt to integrate them into some sort of grand narrative.

The author demonstrates a broad knowledge of the major American cities during this era. Rich in detail, the book takes a well balanced look at all of the forces that shaped each issue. Most often these forces included the politics and the economics of the time.

The fact that no grand and unified theory is presented works in this book's favor. In the end, Downtown is free from any sort of bias and instead serves to present, as Sergeant Joe Friday would say, "just the facts."

Downtown is a well-researched and well-written work. It is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in studying the history and dynamics of America's downtowns.

It is long but easy to follow and enjoyable. It missed out on mentioning that famous German-Jewish director Fritz Lang visited New York City in the 1920's and got the inspiration for the Metropolis film from the Manhatten Skyline.

I wish there were more "city histories" available. However, Fogelson's fills the gap in a major way with his overview of downtowns in American history. This is a book that should interest both specialists and generalists.

Urban history is a very tough subject to find good books on but Fogelson is among the best. His book on how the Downtown came about is excellent. Well written and focusing on a diverse array of downtowns he explores how the department store and subways developed. He talks about the collapse of the "El's" and urban renewal destroyed the downtown. If you have any interest in urban history this is a great book for experts and novices alike. Fogelson writes very clearly and does a wonderful job explaining his topic. Easily five stars.