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Samuel I. Schwartz

Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars Hardcover – Illustrated, September 8, 2015

by Samuel I Schwartz (Author), William Rosen

49 ratings

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On a Saturday morning in December 1973, a section of New York's West Side Highway collapsed under the weight of a truck full of asphalt. The road was closed, seemingly for good, and the 80,000 cars that traveled it each day had to find a new way to their destinations. It ought to have produced traffic chaos, but it didn't. The cars simply vanished. It was a moment of revelation: the highway had induced the demand for car travel. It was a classic case of "build it and they will come," but for the first time the opposite had been shown to be true: knock it down and they will go away. Samuel I. Schwartz was inspired by the lesson. He started to reimagine cities, most of all his beloved New York, freed from their obligation to cars. Eventually, he found, he was not alone.

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, a surreptitious revolution has taken place: every year Americans are driving fewer miles. And the generation named for this new century -- the Millennials -- are driving least of all. Not because they can't afford to; they don't want to. They have better ideas for how to use their streets. An urban transformation is underway, and smart streets are at the heart of it. They will boost property prices and personal fitness, roll back years of congestion and smog, and offer a transformative experience of American urban life. From San Francisco to Salt Lake, Charleston to Houston, the American city is becoming a better and better place to be. Schwartz's Street Smart is a dazzling and affectionate history of the struggle for control of American cities, and an inspiring off-road map to a more vibrant, active, and vigorous urban future.

Print length

312 pages
Language

English
Publisher

PublicAffairs
Publication date

September 8, 2015
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.13 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

1610395646
ISBN-13

978-1610395649
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Equal parts transportation-planning compendium, autobiography and love letter to New York City, Street Smart lays out Sam Schwartz's vision for the future of multimodal and multinodal transportation systems…. Touching on everything from the rise of the automobile and the decline and resurrection of streetcars to traffic calming, ride-sharing and the advent of driverless cars, Schwartz combines an engineer's precise logic with broader societal and cultural considerations—and plenty of wry Brooklyn humor—to provide an engaging examination of once and future urban transportation trends.” —Engineering News-Record

“Nobody is more qualified to write a book about transportation than Schwartz.” —City Journal

"A delightful new book." —Michael Sorkin, The Nation

“An engaging trip down memory lane, where trolleys and pedestrians and bicycles intersect and collide with cars in what Schwartz calls ‘an accident of history,' replete with a promising path toward a multi-modal urban revival.” —MoveNY

"Schwartz sees the writing on the asphalt, even if the federal government, intent on building ever more highways, does not. The future isn't on four wheels. If you want your area to attract young people, entrepreneurs, and capital, you have to make it walkable." —Downtown Express

“Street Smart doesn't read as if you were stuck on the Cross-Bronx Expressway ('the most congested corridor in the entire country,' [Scwartz] writes). Rather, it's mostly accessible, discerning and even revealing.” —Sam Roberts, New York Times

“A snappy read…[Schwartz's] account of President Eisenhower's creation of the interstate highway system is riveting, as is his informed discussion of the rise and fall of streetcars.” —Wall Street Journal

“Schwartz…chronicles in Street Smart the history of urban transportation in the U.S. (growing up in Brooklyn, he has lived through a lot of it). … He takes a strong stand, in some cases calling upon personal experiences that streets belong to communities, not cars, and that sustainable transportation planning is helping to revitalize cities.” —Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Sam Schwartz, a.k.a. "Gridlock Sam," is one of the leading transportation experts in the United States today. He served as New York City's traffic commissioner and the New York City Department of Transportation's chief engineer. Schwartz currently runs Sam Schwartz Engineering and is a columnist at the New York Daily News. He has been profiled by the New Yorker, New York Times, and many other national publications. Schwartz lives in New York City and owns a Volvo that can drive without him.

William Rosen is a former editor and publisher at Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and The Free Press. He has contributed to the Wall Street Journal, the American Interest, Lapham's Quarterly, the New Atlantic, the Washington Post Book World, Bloomberg, and Smithsonian's Echoes, and is the author of Justinian's Flea: The First Great Plague and the End of the Roman Empire (Viking), The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention (Random House) and The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century (Viking).

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ PublicAffairs; 1st edition (September 8, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 312 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1610395646
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1610395649
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.18 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.13 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #842,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #97 in Mass Transit (Books)
- #161 in Transportation Engineering (Books)
- #749 in City Planning & Urban Development

Customer Reviews:
49 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Jake N.

A very accessible look at transit history, especially NYC, through the eyes of one of the world's top transportation engineers.

Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2015

Verified Purchase

A very accessible, easily-readable account of the past, present, and future of transit throughout the US and the rest of the world. I especially enjoyed the anecdotes surrounding New York City, an area which Schwartz, also known as "Gridlock Sam," has much personal experience as Traffic Commissioner.

The first half of the book is historical: expect to learn about the great engineering marvel and transportation failure of Robert Moses' Cross-Bronx Expressway, the political and economic reasons (as opposed to the oft-cited social reasons) behind the 50s white flight phenomenon, and other fascinating stories concerning the past 100 years of transit development. Schwartz's magic in this section is the "behind the scenes" perspective, prompting the casual reader (such as myself) to think about the issues like a transportation engineer rather than like a consumer.

The second half of the book concerns the future, and does so by describing unique aspects of transit systems and traffic planning in other cities throughout the country, peppered with anecdotes from Schwartz's work as a consultant. Although I found this portion a little weaker than the NYC historical review (though I admit I am a biased reader who purchased the book out of interest in NYC's infrastructure), it was interesting to learn about the transit systems in other cities. The section about self-driving cars was especially insightful, for the same reasons as the historical portion -- it approached the topic from the perspective of a transportation engineer rather than the perspective of a technologist or consumer.

The reasons I didn't rate the book 5 stars were: I found the section on Millenials and the benefits of walking a little bit unnecessarily long, although I understand why Schwartz would include it assuming an older target audience. I also would have appreciated more details, both historical and technical, in some sections, even if those details risk boring or alienating a more casual reader.

If you're looking for a very easy to read introduction to the broad world of transportation and its political, social, and economic state within the country (or specifically NYC), then I highly recommend this book. If you're looking for a detailed introduction to transportation engineering, this might not be the right place to begin, although it might serve as motivational material to dig deeper.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Malcolm

Very fascinating book while remaining accessible and fun to read

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

Very fascinating book while remaining accessible and fun to read. The author does a great job of combining in-depth technical language without suffering from a dry writing style.
In regards to content, his descriptions are thorough and open minded. Despite what many may think, the book is not a complete attack on cars, but rather an exploration of the benefits of reducing car presence in densely populated areas and making other forms of transportation more appealing. He still acknowledges the role cars fill and their importance to the transportation sector.
I would recommend this book to anyone who's curious in how transportation works in a city, places with state of the art transportation systems, and what the future of commuting and traveling can be.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

noah

A funny and instructive book on how getting rid of (some) cars can improve our cities.

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

Sam Schwartz is both funny and credible in "Street Smarts". He references many of his own professional wins (and losses) as New York City's Traffic Commissioner and explains why having a variety of transit options is necessary for any healthy city. His analyses of topics like infrastructure improvement, self-driving cars, and ridesharing services all come together to make for an interesting and--in my opinion--necessary read for anyone involved in urban planning or traffic engineering.

Helpful

Rick Hall

Full of the logic, wisdom and experience necessary to revitalize 21st century cities in the US and worldwide.

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

Sam Schwartz speaks from experience, augmented by thorough reading on the achievements of others. His engaging style weaves one into the complexity of competing ideas and interests, always suggesting ways to do the right thing. Street Smarts is a major contribution to the great walkability shift so essential for sustainable, pleasant mobility in our lives. Engineers, planners, urban designers, elected officials and concerned citizens, read this book to strengthen your transportation understanding and win the looming policy debates.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Michael T. Bean

Where We've Been, Where We Are, Where We're Going

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

I haven't quite finished reading it yet, but so far I'm enjoying it a lot. Most of the time, books on such topics are about as engrossing to read as watching paint dry. However, Schwartz makes it interesting. He describes how cities got into the fix they're in and how they're getting themselves out of it. If you live in a city (and in the US that's over half of us) get this book. I recommend it highly.

Helpful

Michael D. Brendler

The real future of transit

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

This book reflects the view of a person with years of experience doing transit and not just writing about it. Only source I have found which acknowledges how millennials will change things.

Helpful

Kevin Cronin

Great lessons from one of the nation's most prominant traffic ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great lessons from one of the nation's most prominant traffic engineers on congestion, sprawl and why we need to do something about them. As a Cleveland, Ohio cyclist, I found it insightful, but as a taxpayer I found it compelling. We can't afford unbridled highway expansion, when we can't maintain and repair what we already have.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Topher

Should be required reading for any city planner, or city official.

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

This book was an eye-opener. I think the biggest thing for me was how it addressed autonomous vehicles or driverless cars and how they are not the solution that so many people think they are, that is, without effective integrated transit systems to collaborate along side them.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

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Cliente Amazon

EStupendo libro

Reviewed in Spain on June 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

Es el libro clave de la política de movilidad urbana. Es didáctico,divertido y riguroso. Schwartz se basa en 40 años de experiencia como responsable del tráfico en New York

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Angie

Bueno

Reviewed in Mexico on July 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

Bueno

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Cliente de Amazon

Buen libro

Reviewed in Mexico on May 24, 2020