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A review by annebelleo
Walkable City (Tenth Anniversary Edition): How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time by Jeff Speck
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I read many reviews here before picking up this book as I was deciding which book would alleviate my sadness of car dependence the most after being back in the US on the opposite coast of where I grew up. So I share a lot of the same opinions I initially read.
- a lot of outdated info, but the 10th anniversary edition update shows how much and how little things can change in 10 years. Holy shit is sprawl bad. Cool that the author not only openly admits where he was wrong but also openly criticizes big companies and big people claiming to revolutionize transportation only to decrease funding in public transport. I appreciate the tree commentary especially, we can’t all be experts in every subject and are bound to get things wrong the first time.
- the author is aware of his background and makes an effort to address socioeconomic disparity regarding transportation and walkability. A breath of fresh air compared to other books I’ve read that aren’t specifically about diversity.
- that being said I don’t like the hip language brought up sometimes. I consequently take the information less seriously if the author tries to be one of the cool kids.
- I didn’t get many references (I didn’t know who Jane Jacobs was before I started reading) but I think the book does a good job of filling in the gaps.
- the Netherlands is great but nothing near perfect, as the book likes to describe it… would love to hear the author’s opinions on mopeds illegally (but commonly) being adjusted to exceed 25 km/h and still being allowed to share the bike lane, or the existence of fat bikes, or despite narrow lanes the amount of drivers on their phones and/or hogging the left lane without overtaking cars.
Overall, solid read, less relevant to me than someone living in the US but super informative in general, especially for someone that isn’t in the field of urban planning.
- a lot of outdated info, but the 10th anniversary edition update shows how much and how little things can change in 10 years. Holy shit is sprawl bad. Cool that the author not only openly admits where he was wrong but also openly criticizes big companies and big people claiming to revolutionize transportation only to decrease funding in public transport. I appreciate the tree commentary especially, we can’t all be experts in every subject and are bound to get things wrong the first time.
- the author is aware of his background and makes an effort to address socioeconomic disparity regarding transportation and walkability. A breath of fresh air compared to other books I’ve read that aren’t specifically about diversity.
- that being said I don’t like the hip language brought up sometimes. I consequently take the information less seriously if the author tries to be one of the cool kids.
- I didn’t get many references (I didn’t know who Jane Jacobs was before I started reading) but I think the book does a good job of filling in the gaps.
- the Netherlands is great but nothing near perfect, as the book likes to describe it… would love to hear the author’s opinions on mopeds illegally (but commonly) being adjusted to exceed 25 km/h and still being allowed to share the bike lane, or the existence of fat bikes, or despite narrow lanes the amount of drivers on their phones and/or hogging the left lane without overtaking cars.
Overall, solid read, less relevant to me than someone living in the US but super informative in general, especially for someone that isn’t in the field of urban planning.