Jane Jacobs: What's Old Is Good

Jane Jacobs, now 88, makes a rare appearance in San Francisco, CA, to promote her new book, Dark Age Ahead.

1 minute read

May 22, 2004, 11:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"If there's a Gospel According to Jacobs, it's that old is better than new, and small is better than big. Anecdotal evidence counts for more than chunky stacks of authoritative data. She's old school in the sense that she clearly would prefer if suburbs -- what she calls "ghastly communities" -- simply ceased to exist... She has a contract for two other books. One will be an anthology of her writings on how metropolitan economies wither or fade based on local smarts rather than national policies. And the other? "You'll probably laugh at my brashness," Jacobs confided with a broad grin during our interview, "but it has the working title 'A short biography of the human race.' "

Thanks to Chris Steins

Saturday, May 22, 2004 in The San Francisco Chronicle

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