City Life

Rybczynski has compiled an excellent commentary on urban America and why it looks and functions the way it does. It is required reading for my graduate students. I hardily recommend it for anyone interested in the history, state and future of our cities.

This book attempts to answer the question-an important one to my thinking-"Why don't our cities look like the great ones: Paris, Rome?" Rybczynski, a student of architecture and city planning discusses the history of American blunders from the highway to the skyscraper, from the "City Beautiful" movement, to the negro rush toward city centers in the late 60's. It seems that everything that could've gone wrong, essentially has. Still, the author sees hope in the forms of a few master-planned towns (east coast), and of the modern suburban mall, which he sees as a place for people to gather and do commerce, while feeling safer than they would in urban areas due to the malls' governing rules and aesthetic uniformities which have been abolished in the name of individual freedoms elsewhere, to our peril.

While driving up the Ohio River valley to Cincinatti, my husband and I read this book aloud to each other. City Life provides a framework for thinking about city development and the history of American expansion. It confirmed our intuitions plus provided new food for thought. If you're the type who enjoys meandering through a city wondering about the hows and whys of the city's rhythm, layout and buildings, this book is for you.

I read this book as I was considering where to buy a house in the DC Metro area. It was without a doubt the most helpful thing in making a wise choice since there were conflicting ideals regarding the accessiblity to activities if you live in the middle of a city versus the convenience and quality of life of living in a new suburb. In the end, I decided that Mr. Rybczynski had made all the arguments and fleshed them out beautifully allowing me to also discover the value of living in a very old, very close-in suburb. The architecture is interesting, the communities are set up to be cooperative, the drive is quite short to downtown and the only thing I am missing is mega-stores and malls in my neighborhood. This book makes it clear that there are many ways to look at the issue of "whatever happened to city life that I once knew." I could not put it down. Highly recommended.

THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I READ LAST YEAR. YOU WILL NEVER LOOK UPON A CITY THE SAME WAY AGAIN. IT IS FILLED WITH INTERESTING FACTS. THE AUTHOR'S WRITING STYLE IS FRESH AND CONVERSATIONIAL. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.