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hudikatz's review
4.0
This book is phenomenal. A badass libertarian city planner basically took shots at the biggest names ever in urban planning. She is anti-zoning and anti-density which is a weird line to toe. She says some racy stuff about diversity but you can tell she genuinely cares about poor people, even more-so than Progressive Era interventionists who tried to create cookie cutter cities that utterly FAILED. two word synopsis of her planning philosophy: trial+error.
sabrinacabrera's review
informative
2.75
Considering this was written in the 60s, Jacobs's principles on urban planning have withstood the tests of time. Could've been covered in half of what was written, but props to her for being thorough lol.
jacquelynjoan's review
Due back to the library, I want to buy my own copy so I can underline in it. Will finish eventually.
bjaimes's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.5
After having heard so much about the brilliance of Jane Jacobs, I decided to finally give this book a shot! Jane Jacobs was truly a visionary thinker for her time, setting the groundwork for policies that we are still fighting to enact today. She was able to see through the facade of urban planning in her era and fight for more lively neighborhoods and less dependency on cars.
It should be noted, however, that many of the city idiosyncracies she describes are no longer possible at this stage in our capitalist development. The days when you could trust a local business to watch over the street are long gone. For various reasons, businesses nowadays maintain highly impersonal relationships with the rest of the community.
Also, despite her progressivism in urban policy, Jane was a pretty strong defender of U.S. capitalism. I find it sad that many of the issues she identifies as inefficiencies would actually be solved (or more efficient) under central planning.
The writing style is pretty accessible, and Jane lets her sense of humor shine through every once in a while. I will say that with the length of this book, some of the later chapters are not as riveting to get through... hence why it took me 3 months to get through this book lol.
It should be noted, however, that many of the city idiosyncracies she describes are no longer possible at this stage in our capitalist development. The days when you could trust a local business to watch over the street are long gone. For various reasons, businesses nowadays maintain highly impersonal relationships with the rest of the community.
Also, despite her progressivism in urban policy, Jane was a pretty strong defender of U.S. capitalism. I find it sad that many of the issues she identifies as inefficiencies would actually be solved (or more efficient) under central planning.
The writing style is pretty accessible, and Jane lets her sense of humor shine through every once in a while. I will say that with the length of this book, some of the later chapters are not as riveting to get through... hence why it took me 3 months to get through this book lol.
ehmannky's review
This is a book where I just already am on board with what she’s saying and I feel like I did not need to finish listening