Street Smart by Samuel L. Schwartz - Book Report #219

This is the kind of real-world stuff a enjoy.

City planning, traffic, pedestrian alternatives, mass transportation ...

These are the kinds of things that Samuel Schwartz dealt with as New York city's First Deputy Commissioner and Chief Engineer from 1986-1990.

He even coined the term Gridlock and is also known as Gridlock Sam.

I found his insights in traffic management completely fascinating and found the book compelling.  It made me look at my own city of Edmonton, Alberta with new eyes.

If there is one lesson proven throughout the book it is that traffic need not flow.  PEOPLE need space to walk and experience the environment outside of an automobile.  It is very good for business.

Recommended.

Samuel L Schwartz

Triumph of the City by Edward Glaeser - Book Report #140

One more in my quest for the good in the world. Here Glaeser makes a compelling and well researched argument that the city is humanity's best invention.

I came to this book after listening to the Freakonomics podcast from May 6, 2015 titled Could The Next Brooklyn Be ... Las Vegas?!  Listen to that as a good companion to the book.  You can find it here:

http://freakonomics.com/2015/05/11/could-the-next-brooklyn-be-las-vegas-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/

Everything you love and hate about city life is explored; the very nature of crowds,  people bumping into each other and exchanging ideas has led to advancements in science, business and the arts. 

By compressing people and building up, instead of sprawling out we take up much less land and reduce our individual carbon footprint. 

My favourite thought came from chapter 8, titled Is There Anything Greener Than Blacktop?  "If you love nature, stay away from it."

 

He also tackles the difficult subject of cities in decline, think Detroit of today and New York of the 1970's and how cities have re-imagined themselves over and over again. 

All in all I found this book to be a fascinating read. It made me think of where my city is doing things right and where it is not.

Edward Glaeser