In the 1960's, Jane Jacobs was a good little house wife living in what was then a very run down East Village. Then she encountered Robert Mosher, the NYC Tsar of remodeling NYC. Robert had a master plan that amounted to replacing Geenwich Vilage with a parking lot. Her carefully crafted arguments championing the community led to this book. Today, I use her example to push for sustainable development in Newark, NJ.

If you are studying urban planning and have already read some of the latest books then this is the book for you. Jane Jacobs was the first to understand what it has taken the rest of the planning field 50 years to understand. If you like Andres Duany or Jeff Speck's ideas then this book is for you. Jane Jacobs was the first to understand the work that these two rock stars of planning have been elaborating on since the late 70's to now.

this is an amazing book. it is especially great is you either live in NY or have an interest in NY. written 40 years ago, Jane Jacobs' thoughts are still just as applicable today as they were when she published them. it is at times a heavy read, but very informative and worth the effort.

I bought the book three weeks ago and was immediately impressed with ideas available on this inexpensive book. It has community security concepts, sidewalks highlights, and more. The book is perfect for expose arguments. My only complaint is that the book don't have color pictures and multimedia cds. This author could do a better job with the help of recent book tecnologies. Overall, I'd recommend this book if you are interested in planning, security, city issues and life.