Suburban Nation - Andres Duany [133]
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It is fair to say that CIAM, more than any other single organization, can be credited or blamed for the shape of the modern city. While CIAM writings loosely promoted the concept of the neighborhood, it was the drawings and early buildings produced by its members that had the greatest long-term influence. As one regards the cruciform towers of New York’s Co-op City or the automotive urbanism of Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, one cannot help but think of Le Corbusier’s landscape of freestanding buildings isolated in open space and connected by high-speed motorways.
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Images of this period’s achievement were concisely presented in 1922 by Werner Hegemann and Elbert Peets in The American Vitruvius: An Architect’s Handbook of Civic Art. Recently reprinted, this continues to be a valuable design manual.
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Indeed, some of what has been written here can also be found in James Howard Kunstler’s two books, The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere. Those ideas that appear here without credit are printed with his permission; Mr. Kunstler acknowledges that their original source was our own lectures and writings. We are grateful to Jim for his success in bringing these ideas into the open well before we had the opportunity to complete this book.
Copyright © 2000 by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck
Preface copyright © 2010 by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck
All rights reserved
North Point Press
A division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux
18 West 18th Street, New York 10011
www.fsgbooks.com
Designed by Jonathan D. Lippincott
eISBN 9781429932110
First eBook Edition : May 2011
Published in 2000 by North Point Press
First paperback edition, 2001
10th anniversary paperback edition, 2010
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: Duany, Andres.
Suburban nation : the rise of sprawl and the decline of the American Dream / Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Urbanization—United States. 2. Suburbs—United States. 3. Community development, Urban—United States. 4. Urban renewal—United States. 5. Urban policy—United States. I. Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth. II. Speck, Jeff. III. Title.
HT384.U5 D83 2000
307·76′0973—dc21
990052186
10th Anniversary Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86547-750-6
Table of Contents
Title Page
Table of Contents
PREFACE TO THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
INTRODUCTION
1 - WHAT IS SPRAWL, AND WHY?
TWO WAYS TO GROW
THE FIVE COMPONENTS OF SPRAWL
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPRAWL
WHY VIRGINIA BEACH IS NOT ALEXANDRIA
NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS VERSUS SPRAWL PLANS
2 - THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
WHY TRAFFIC IS CONGESTED
WHEN NEARBY IS STILL FAR AWAY
THE CONVENIENCE STORE VERSUS THE CORNER STORE
THE SHOPPING CENTER VERSUS MAIN STREET
THE OFFICE PARK VERSUS MAIN STREET
USELESS AND USEFUL OPEN SPACE
WHY CURVING ROADS AND CUL-DE-SACS DO NOT MAKE MEMORABLE PLACES
3 - THE HOUSE THAT SPRAWL BUILT
THE ODDITY OF AMERICAN HOUSING
PRIVATE REALM VERSUS PUBLIC REALM
THE SEGREGATION OF SOCIETY BY INCOME
TWO ILLEGAL TYPES OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
TWO FORGOTTEN RULES OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
THE MIDDLE-CLASS HOUSING CRISIS
4 - THE PHYSICAL CREATION OF SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES OF A SOCIAL DECLINE
DRIVERS VERSUS PEDESTRIANS
PREREQUISITES FOR STREET LIFE
5 - THE AMERICAN TRANSPORTATION MESS
THE HIGHWAYLESS TOWN AND THE TOWNLESS HIGHWAY
WHY ADDING LANES MAKES TRAFFIC WORSE
THE AUTOMOBILE SUBSIDY
6 - SPRAWL AND THE DEVELOPER
THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN DEVELOPER
THE INSIDIOUS INFLUENCE OF THE MARKET EXPERTS
QUESTIONABLE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
STRUGGLES WITH THE HOMEBUILDERS
A VISIT TO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS’ ANNUAL CONVENTION
7 - THE VICTIMS OF SPRAWL
CUL-DE-SAC KIDS
SOCCER MOMS
BORED TEENAGERS
STRANDED ELDERLY
WEARY COMMUTERS
BANKRUPT MUNICIPALITIES
THE IMMOBILE POOR
8 - THE CITY AND THE REGION
THE POSSIBILITY OF GOOD SUBURBS
SUBURBS THAT HELP