"The Death and Life of Great American Cities"

Jane Jacobs, redux.

It was about 46 years ago that Jane Jacobs, a journalist, authored this scathing denunciation of the planners who were attemting to shape "the great American cities." It was seminal -- in that it started others to complain about where America was going. (e.g. Rachel Carson)

Her theme was that the American cities thrived on chaotic melange. Everything jumbled together. Residences and businesses side by side. Lively streets. She tilted against all of the planners of the day. She picked on some of the really big ones -- like Robert Moses who gave us the framework for present day New York.

Her dreams are presently re-visited at an exhibition at the Municipal Art Society in New York.

Some of what she wrote is still relevant -- some has been dismissed as flaws in her thinking.

But, for those of us who are concerned about where we are going, her book is still a "must read."

: )