Jane Jacobs: Right Questions, Wrong Neighborhoods

Notwithstanding that "no one 'got' the city like Jane Jacobs", her book had little impact on America. "But for all her wisdom, perception and eloquence, the 40 years after the publication of her book were the worst for the American city." The reasons extended beyond anything she might have predicted, and were certainly outside of her control, but she erred when she focused her analysis on the "inner," most dense areas. "The Death and Life" created false expectations for what American cities were or could be.

"The paradigm urban neighborhood that needed to be replicated in America was not one with 150 or 200 dwelling units per acre, but one with more like 30 or 40 -- single family houses, duplexes, three-deckers, row houses, etc., on small lots, with apartments on the connector streets...

"An army of Jane Jacobses could not have prevented sprawl, but if someone had written about the less dense neighborhoods of our cities with the passion Ms. Jacobs applied to the inner areas, then perhaps someone else might have designed our suburbs in a way that integrated them better into the urban fabric at both the micro level (walkability, mixed uses) and the macro level (transit). Put them on the grid, so to speak."

Thanks to Frank Gruber