By Christopher
B. Leinberger
(Washington, DC:
Island
Press, 2007);
978-1597261364
Americans
are voting with their feet to abandon strip malls and suburban sprawl,
embracing instead a new type of community where they can live, work, shop, and
play within easy walking distance. In The Option of Urbanism visionary
developer and strategist Christopher B. Leinberger explains why government
policies have tilted the playing field toward one form of development over the
last sixty years: the drivable suburb. Rooted in the driving forces of the
economy—car manufacturing and the oil industry—this type of growth has fostered
the decline of community, contributed to urban decay, increased greenhouse gas
emissions, and contributed to the rise in obesity and asthma. Highlighting both
the challenges and the opportunities for this type of development, The Option
of Urbanism shows how the American Dream is shifting to include cities as well
as suburbs and how the financial and real estate communities need to respond to
build communities that are more environmentally, socially, and financially
sustainable.