In case people are interested, I’ve recently finished a couple good books on the horrid consequences of subdivisions and modern developments. If other people have read these, I’d be interested to hear some debate on their ideas…
James Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere
This is a bitter, funny dissection of the nasty social and physical effects of endless suburbia. Note that it doesn’t offer many fixes, as these are in the sequel (Home from Nowhere)
Andres Duany (and others), Suburban Nation
Written by a group of urban architects, this is a more straightforward and prescriptive approach to the problem. It’s an easy read, but less personal (which is both good and bad) than Kunstler.
I can’t comment on either of these two books, but I thought I’d add my own.
Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner
Fascinating look at “water politics” and the unscrupulous tactics used to secure SoCal’s water supply, plus lots of info on other places around the country. It’s basically a collection of interesting stories (espionage, sabotage, etc) showing how we got to where we are. The suburbia the in the two books beano mentions wouldn’t be possible (in SoCal) without us taking water from other areas. I thought this book fit semi-well with this suburbia thread, and it also ties into the “brown lawn syndrome” thread where people are discussing alternate landscaping. This will be the most eye opening and frightening book you’ve read in a while.
I can’t comment on either of these two books, but I thought I’d add my own.
Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner
Fascinating look at “water politics” and the unscrupulous tactics used to secure SoCal’s water supply, plus lots of info on other places around the country. It’s basically a collection of interesting stories (espionage, sabotage, etc) showing how we got to where we are. The suburbia the in the two books beano mentions wouldn’t be possible (in SoCal) without us taking water from other areas. I thought this book fit semi-well with this suburbia thread, and it also ties into the “brown lawn syndrome” thread where people are discussing alternate landscaping. This will be the most eye opening and frightening book you’ve read in a while.
As a minor aside, if you can get the PBS documentary on Cadillac Desert, some of interviews with key players is really enlightening. I still remember the interview of a surviving BLM manager who still was pushing the justification to dam every drop of water and piss on the environmental do gooders.
As a minor aside, if you can get the PBS documentary on Cadillac Desert, some of interviews with key players is really enlightening. I still remember the interview of a surviving BLM manager who still was pushing the justification to dam every drop of water and piss on the environmental do gooders.
.
