cities

Cordelia at the Phenomenal Field proposes a home study course in New Urbanism, based on recommended reading over at the Where blog.

I’ll sign up for this home study course – this has been a subject burgeoning at the base of my brain for awhile. I’ve had Jane Jacob’s book (The Death and Life of Great American Cities) on my wish list for some time. I need an excuse to pull that trigger, and the others on the list sound great as well:

2. The Option of Urbanism by Christopher Leinberger (2007).

3. The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler (1993).

4. Cities Back from the Edge by Roberta Gratz, with Norman Mintz (1998).

5. How Cities Work by Alex Marshall (2000).

I have at hand already A Pattern Language, and another book that has been languishing on my shelf for several years “Cities in Civilization” by Peter Hall – focusing on cities that have had created “golden ages” of influential cultural creativity – think Florence in 1400-1500, or Paris in 1870-1910, and examining what was unique about those urban settings that created the crucible for that dynamic creativeness.

And as a resident of an old urban neighborhood, I’m particularly interested in this title:

The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration, 1966-1999 by Ray Suarez.

I always get good ideas from Cordelia; this reading list and subject is another. And I have a cool new blog – Where – to add to my feed reader.