Best of
Urban-Planning

2006

The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro


Zachary M. Schrag - 2006
    And parking? Don't bet on it unless you're in the fast lane of the Capital Beltway during rush hour.Little wonder, then, that so many residents and visitors rely on the Washington Metro, the 106-mile rapid transit system that serves the District of Columbia and its inner suburbs. In the first comprehensive history of the Metro, Zachary M. Schrag tells the story of the Great Society Subway from its earliest rumblings to the present day, from Arlington to College Park, Eisenhower to Marion Barry.Unlike the pre–World War II rail systems of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, the Metro was built at a time when most American families already owned cars, and when most American cities had dedicated themselves to freeways, not subways. Why did the nation's capital take a different path? What were the consequences of that decision?Using extensive archival research as well as oral history, Schrag argues that the Metro can be understood only in the political context from which it was born: the Great Society liberalism of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. The Metro emerged from a period when Americans believed in public investments suited to the grandeur and dignity of the world's richest nation. The Metro was built not merely to move commuters, but in the words of Lyndon Johnson, to create "a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community."Schrag scrutinizes the project from its earliest days, including general planning, routes, station architecture, funding decisions, land-use impacts, and the behavior of Metro riders. The story of the Great Society Subway sheds light on the development of metropolitan Washington, postwar urban policy, and the promises and limits of rail transit in American cities.

Planning and Urban Design Standards


American Planning Association - 2006
     Edited from the main volume to meet the serious student's needs, this Student Edition is packed with more than 1,400 informative illustrations and includes the latest rules of thumb for designing and evaluating any land-use scheme--from street plantings to new subdivisions. Students find real help understanding all the practical information on the physical aspects of planning and urban design they are required to know, including: * Plans and plan making * Environmental planning and management * Building types * Transportation * Utilities * Parks and open space, farming, and forestry * Places and districts * Design considerations * Projections and demand analysis * Impact assessment * Mapping * Legal foundations * Growth management preservation, conservation, and reuse * Economic and real estate development Planning and Urban Design Standards, Student Edition provides essential specification and detailing information for various types of plans, environmental factors and hazards, building types, transportation planning, and mapping and GIS. In addition, expert advice guides readers on practical and graphical skills, such as mapping, plan types, and transportation planning.

Planning and Urban Design Standards


Emina Sendich - 2006
    Contributions from more than two hundred renowned professionals provide rules of thumb and best practices for mitigating such environmental impacts as noise, traffic, aesthetics, preservation of green space and wildlife, water quality, and more. You get in-depth information on the tools and techniques used to achieve planning and design outcomes, including economic analysis, mapping, visualization, legal foundations, and real estate developments. Thousands of illustrations, examples of custom work by today's leading planners, and insider information make this work the new standard in the field. Order your copy today.

Design for Ecological Democracy


Randolph T. Hester - 2006
    Showing how to combine the forces of ecological science and participatory democracy to design urban landscapes that enable us to act as communities, this book outlines principles for urban design that allows us to forge connections with our fellow citizens and our natural environment.

Losing It All to Sprawl: How Progress Ate My Cracker Landscape


Bill Belleville - 2006
    Belleville’s narrative is eloquent, informed, and impassioned, a saga in which tractors and backhoes trample through the woods next to his home in order to build the backbone of Florida sprawl—the mall.As heavy machinery encircles Belleville and his community--the noise growing louder and closer, displacing everything Belleville has called home for the past fifteen years--he tells a story that is much older, 10,000 years older. The story stretches back to the Timucua and the Mayaca living in harmony with Florida’s environment; the conquistadors who expected much from, but also feared, this “land of flowers”; the turn-of-the-century tourists “modernizing” and “climatizing” the state; the original Cracker families who lived in Belleville’s farmhouse. In stark contrast to this millennia-long transformation is the whiplash of unbridled growth and development that threatens the nearby wilderness of the Wekiva River system, consuming Belleville’s home and, ultimately, his very sense of place.In Florida, one of the nation’s fastest growing states (and where local and state governments encourage growth), balancing use with preservation is an uphill battle. Sprawl spreads into the countryside, consuming not just natural lands but Old Florida neighborhoods and their unique history. In Losing It All to Sprawl, Belleville accounts for the impacts—social, political, natural, personal—that a community in the crosshairs of unsustainable growth ultimately must bear, but he also offers Floridians, and anyone facing the blight of urban confusion, the hope that can be found in the rediscovery and appreciation of the natural landscape.

The Art of City-Making


Charles Landry - 2006
    The skills required to re-enchant the city are far wider than the conventional ones like architecture, engineering and land-use planning. There is no simplistic, ten-point plan, but strong principles can help send good city-making on its way. The vision for 21st century cities must be to be the most imaginative cities for the world rather than in the world. This one change of word - from 'in' to 'for' - gives city-making an ethical foundation and value base. It helps cities become places of solidarity where the relations between the individual, the group, outsiders to the city and the planet are in better alignment. Following the widespread success of The Creative City, this new book, aided by international case studies, explains how to reassess urban potential so that cities can strengthen their identity and adapt to the changing global terms of trade and mass migration. It explores the deeper fault-lines, paradoxes and strategic dilemmas that make creating the 'good city' so difficult.

Parking Management Best Practices


Todd A. Litman - 2006
    Where and how can make a big difference to economic development, traffic reduction, smart growth, historic preservation, and many other planning efforts. The parking management strategies described in this book will help planners increase parking facility efficiency and reduce parking demand. Parking management offers an alternative to traditional "predict and provide" parking planning, which has contributed to widespread auto dependency and urban sprawl. Instead of providing plentiful free parking, parking management provides optimal parking supply and pricing. Its benefits include support for transit-oriented development; reduced stormwater management costs, water pollution, and heat island effects; improved travel options for nondrivers; lower housing costs; and more livable communities. For planners who need to establish more accurate and flexible parking standards, this book is a blueprint for developing an integrated parking plan. It explains how to determine parking supply and affect parking demand, as well as how to calculate parking facility costs. It also offers information about shared parking, parking maximums, financial incentives, tax reform, pricing methods, and other management techniques. What types of locations benefit from parking management? Places with perceived parking problems. Areas with rapidly expanding population, business activity, or traffic. Commercial districts and other places with compact land-use patterns. Urban areas in need of redevelopment and infill. Places with high levels of walking or public transit or places that want to encourage those modes. Districts where parking problems hinder economic development. Areas with high land values. Neighborhoods concerned with equity, including fairness to nondrivers. Places with environmental concerns. Unique landscapes or historic districts in need of preservation.

Architects Without Frontiers


Esther Charlesworth - 2006
    But what political and aesthetic criteria should guide us in the rebuilding of cities devastated by war and natural calamities? The title of this timely and inspiring new book, Architects Without Frontiers, points to the potential for architects to play important roles in post-war relief and reconstruction. By working "sans fronti�res", Charlesworth suggests that architects and design professionals have a significant opportunity to assist peace-making and reconstruction efforts in the period immediately after conflict or disaster, when much of the housing, hospital, educational, transport, civic and business infrastructure has been destroyed or badly damaged. Through selected case studies, Charlesworth examines the role of architects, planners, urban designers and landscape architects in three cities following conflict - Beirut, Nicosia and Mostar - three cities where the mental and physical scars of violent conflict still remain. This book expands the traditional role of the architect from 'hero' to 'peacemaker' and discusses how design educators can stretch their wings to encompass the proliferating agendas and sites of civil unrest.

Making Housing Happen: Faith Based Affordable Housing Models


Jill Suzanne Shook - 2006
    Making Housing Happen clearly shows how churches are addressing the housing crisis from Los Angeles to New York City. The book's three parts motivate the reader to action. The first part, The Foundation, puts a face on the kind of people in need of affordable housing, provides a solid theological foundation for an affordable housing ministry, and an overview of U.S. housing policies. Part II, Tangible Structures, features housing development models, each demonstrating best practices and workable solutions illustrated by true stories. The last section of the book, Intangible Structures, discusses ways that people of faith have created affordable housing without actually building it?for example, by changing laws and designing new structures or new financial tools that have resulted in housing solutions.

SPSS 14.0 Guide to Data Analysis


Marija J. Norusis - 2006
    Easy-to-understand explanations and in-depth content make this guide both an excellent supplement to other statistics texts and a superb primary text for any introductory data analysis course. With the book, you get a jump-start on describing data, testing hypotheses, and examining relationships using SPSS. The goal of this book is to provide an unintimidating introduction to data analysis and to SPSS. This edition focuses on topics that interest today's students-in particular, the role of the Internet in society. It is designed for use with SPSS 14.0, including the Student Version. A data CD is included with this book. For additional information, go to http://www.norusis.com This site offers a detailed Table of Contents, features, examples included in the book, and a sample chapter for download.

Realizing Property Rights


Hernando de Soto - 2006
    Political Science. Hernando de Soto and Francis Cheneval have edited a collection of ground-breaking cases as part of the Swiss Human Rights Book series which deal with property rights as human rights. Topics include Resource Conflict in the Sudan, Land Reform in Zimbabwe, Rural Property in China, Land Rights for Rural Women, etc.

Urban Mass Transit: The Life Story of a Technology


Robert C. Post - 2006
    Just a few hundred years ago, the size of cities was limited by the time it took people to move from one part of the city to another. The development of successive technologies has forever altered the urban landscape. From horse-drawn omnibuses to subways to current light-rail, this volume highlights the technological and social struggles that have accompanied urbanization and the need for an efficient and cost-effective means of transportation in cities.