YIP Reading Group: Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Posted by on January 13, 2006

YIP Reading Group: Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Monday, January 23rd, 6:15 ? 8:30 p.m.
Seiss Community Center
2111 Sansom Street

Young Involved Philadelphia is happy to announce the re‐launch of ʺPhiladelphia and Its Future,ʺ a reading and discussion group for civic‐minded young Philadelphians. The group allows us to educate ourselves about the city and its history, and to debate issues of key relevance to Philadelphiaʹs future.

Readings are drawn from classic works on cities and urban planning, analyses of current economic development trends, and case studies of policies and initiatives successful here and elsewhere, as well as other sources. Past readings have included A Prayer for the City by Buzz Bissinger, The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida, and the Brookings Institution report ʺThe Price is Wrong: Getting the Market Right for Working Families in Philadelphia.ʺ

Our first reading of 2006, set for January 23rd, will be Jane Jacobsʹs classic work on cities and urban planning, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. This landmark book celebrates the small buildings, narrow streets, and vibrantly mixed uses of America?s older cities and challenges the prevailing tendency of mid‐century urban planning to demolish old cities and build new, modern superblocks. The Death and Life of American Cities is widely credited with setting into motion a new appreciation of old cities and mixed‐use communities that continues to reshape the way Americans zone, build, and occupy their cities.

This will be the first of two discussions on Jacobs?s book. The second discussion will follow later. Please email Baylor Harton at [email protected] to RSVP or with any questions. Joseph Fox Bookstore, 1724 Sansom Street, is offering a discount to YIP Reading Group participants on Jane Jacobsʹs The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Attendees are encouraged to read the Introduction, Part 1, and Part 2 of the book. Discussion will focus on the following passages:
Introduction pages 3‐28
The uses of sidewalks: Assimilating children pages 74‐88
The uses of neighborhood parks pages 89‐111
The uses of city neighborhoods pages 112‐142
The need for small blocks pages 178‐186