Writing in a Boston Globe editorial, David Dixon explains why Americans' fear and loathing of density is ironic and dangerous.
"We need to reclaim density as a solution to, not the cause of, problems facing our cities and suburbs... Density is essential to achieving the very qualities that make communities more livable - and cohesive. Neighborhoods in cities like Boston have lost as much as 50 percent of their pre-1950 population, which in turn supported the lively commercial districts with a sense of community that people seek to recapture. Worse, in an era of big-box retail and Internet shopping, it takes more people living within walking distance to support lively streets in 2003 than it did in 1950."
Thanks to Chris Steins
Read the full story: The virtue of density
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
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