Within Walking Distance: Creating Livable Communities for All

Description

In this volume, the author looks at why and how Americans are shifting toward a more human-scale way of building and living. He shows how people are creating, improving, and caring for walkable communities. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Starting conditions differ radically, as do the attitudes and interests of residents. To draw the most important lessons, Langdon spent time in six communities that differ in size, history, wealth, diversity, and education, yet share crucial traits: compactness, a mix of uses and activities, and human scale. The six are Center City Philadelphia; the East Rock section of New Haven, Connecticut; Brattleboro, Vermont; the Little Village section of Chicago; the Pearl District in Portland, Oregon; and the Cotton District in Starkville, Mississippi. In these communities, Langdon examines safe, comfortable streets; sociable sidewalks; how buildings connect to the public realm; bicycling; public transportation; and incorporation of nature and parks into city or town life. In all these varied settings, he pays special attention to a vital ingredient: local commitment. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiv Introduction (Philip Langdon)....Pages 1-11 Big City, Intimate Settings: Center City Philadelphia (Philip Langdon)....Pages 12-59 Creating Gathering Places: The East Rock Neighborhood, New Haven, Connecticut (Philip Langdon)....Pages 60-89 Keeping the Town Center Vital: Brattleboro, Vermont (Philip Langdon)....Pages 90-119 The Walkable Immigrant Neighborhood: Chicago’s “Little Village” (Philip Langdon)....Pages 120-157 Redeveloping with Pedestrians in Mind: The Pearl District, Portland, Oregon (Philip Langdon)....Pages 158-189 Patient Placemaking: The Cotton District, Starkville, Mississippi (Philip Langdon)....Pages 190-215 Conclusion: Toward Human-Scale Communities (Philip Langdon)....Pages 217-239 Back Matter ....Pages 241-264