cover image Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time

Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time

Jeff Speck. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27 (288p) ISBN 978-0-374-28581-4

City planner and architectural designer Speck (co-author of Suburban Nation) offers an informative and engaging look at what's gone awry in American zoning codes and road planning, and what can be done to re-engage the public with downtowns large and small. Contrary to accepted wisdom, the author says that a city center's vitality is not dependent on climate, the width of sidewalks, efficient traffic movement, showboat architecture, or cheap parking. Instead, Speck argues%E2%80%94and research backs him up%E2%80%94that cities need narrower roads, less expedition of traffic via turn lanes or one-way streets%E2%80%94and more mixed-use buildings, protected pedestrian areas, and trees. With covered walkways, people will hike around in any weather. Speck also recommends taking a close look at the effects of public transit and biking, and includes examples of places where one-size-fits-all transportation schemes have failed (see: Dallas). Although it's broadly accessible, Speck's comprehensive effort should appeal to architectural students, civil engineers, and local public servants. Readers will find themselves re-evaluating their home landscape and judging their own urban area through Speck's lens. What they see may shock them. Illus. Agent: Neeti Madan, Sterling Lord. (Nov.)