The Living City: How America's Cities Are Being Revitalized by Thinking Small in a Big Way [Paperback]

Roberta Brandes Gratz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471144258 | ISBN-13: 978-0471144250 | Publication Date: June 1, 1995

THE LIVING CITY

"An intelligent analysis. Sensible, undoctrinaire, even good-humored. An appealing mixture of passion and clinical dispassion."
-Washington Post Book World

"The best antidote I've read to the doom-and-gloom prophecies concerning the future of urban America."
-Bill Moyers

"This is fresh and fascinating material; it is essential for understanding not only how to avoid repeating terrible mistakes of the past, but also how to recover from them."
-Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities

From coast to coast across America there are countless urban success stories about rejuvenated neighborhoods and resurgent business districts. Roberta Brandes Gratz defines the phenomenon as "urban husbandry"-the care, management, and preservation of the built environment nurtured by genuine participatory planning efforts of government, urban planners, and average citizens.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

THE LIVING CITY

"An intelligent analysis. Sensible, undoctrinaire, even good-humored. An appealing mixture of passion and clinical dispassion."
–Washington Post Book World

"The best antidote I’ve read to the doom-and-gloom prophecies concerning the future of urban America."
–Bill Moyers

"This is fresh and fascinating material; it is essential for understanding not only how to avoid repeating terrible mistakes of the past, but also how to recover from them."
–Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities

From coast to coast across America there are countless urban success stories about rejuvenated neighborhoods and resurgent business districts. Roberta Brandes Gratz defines the phenomenon as "urban husbandry"–the care, management, and preservation of the built environment nurtured by genuine participatory planning efforts of government, urban planners, and average citizens.

About the Author

Roberta Brandes Gratz lives in New York City, where she has been involved in urban matters as a community activist, as executive director of a historic restoration project, and as a reporter for the New York Post. In addition, she lectures and writes on urban affairs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471144258
• ISBN-13: 978-0471144250
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #918,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great look at how cities live and die!, November 9, 1999

By 

W. Haley "chocolate lover" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Living City: How America's Cities Are Being Revitalized by Thinking Small in a Big Way (Paperback)

Gratz explores how and why cities survive, thrive and die and explores why small, incremental change is often a more successful revitalization strategy than super "downtown malls" or sportsplexes.

It turns out the key to a lively and lovely city is people of all socioeconomic brackets who actually LIVE downtown, which attracts business, arts and culture!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable Resource, August 11, 2006

By 

Margaret (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Living City: How America's Cities Are Being Revitalized by Thinking Small in a Big Way (Paperback)

This book is an invaluable resource for those wishing to know more about the multitude of small projects that have taken place across the United States in recent years which have had a positive impact in their respective city's regeneration process.
Lots of details for those wishing to undertake such a project in their own city.
Information about how to save our built heritage and NOT uproot those who currently reside in these places.
Stories of community design at its best, as well as stories of courage and perserverence.
Reading them restores one's faith in the possibilities of doing good in our inner cities.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very pleasant story about urban revitalization, January 23, 2001

By 

Fernando Levy Hara - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Living City: How America's Cities Are Being Revitalized by Thinking Small in a Big Way (Paperback)

I have read a lot of books about the issue and they use to be boring and very dificcult to read. This one is the great exception! I really have enjoyed the way the stories are narrated, and the complete information they provide. As an architect specialized in Urban Economics at Buenos Aires , I have found this book very useful for my own research on the issue.