Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream

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Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Sep 14, 2010 - Social Science - 320 pages

Welcome to the Suburban Nation

Plunge into the pivotal exploration of America's car-centric suburban phenomenon that has shaped the landscape of the North American continent over the last century. Suburban Nation stands as a prominent voice advocating change in suburban sprawl and the over-reliance on personal vehicles.

Suburban Nation is the brainchild of the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, who are leading the charge towards traditional urban planning practices.

But this is no simple exposé of post-war planning failures. Instead, Suburban Nation presents a compelling rebuttal to the 'sprawl and crawl' of residential development and transportation design that has marked America's suburban spaces. This inspiring narrative delves into the multi-faceted aspects of urban design, public transit accessibility, traffic, and sprawl, invoking a collective rethink of how we live, commute, and interact with our spatial environment.

Suburban Nation galvanizes a growing movement, calling forth developers, urban planners, transit authorities, and suburban residents alike, to harmonize our living spaces with the demands of modern, sustainable society.

This tenth anniversary edition includes a new preface by the authors.

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About the author (2010)

Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk lead a firm that has designed more than 200 new neighborhoods and community revitalization plans, most famously, Seaside, Florida.

Jeff Speck is director of town planning for the firm.

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