Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #376658 in Books
• Published on: 1992-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Customer Reviews

A fascinating look at the newest form of suburban planning.
American cities have always had downtowns. Indeed, downtown has always been where the action is: shopping, work space, and even residences. But a new form of development is now taking place in American metropolitan areas: office development in the suburbs and even beyond. Garreau tells the story of several metropolitan areas, such as San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, and explains how office development in country areas are spawning a new relationship with the suburbs. Indeed, many jobs are no longer located in the conventional downtown area, as broad expanses of parking lots and six-lane expressways supplant former two-lane country roads meandering through gentle forests. No more! After reading this book, one should grasp how the next wave of development is upon us--the downtown is no longer seen as desirable. The book is fairly well-written, and the list of developers' rules is very fascinating.

Continuation of the old and embarking on the new
Garreau's Edge Cities is one of the few books that this reviewer has found to have both layperson and academic interest. He clearly lays out what he means by "Edge City" early in the work and spends the rest of the time elaborating on cities and their surrounding Edge Cities. For the academic, he cites pertinent socio-economic data; interviews a variety of people, ranging from citizens, merchants, and political leaders; and provides maps for the reader who probably does not know the locations of these communities. For the interested lay reader in urban change and sociology, his writing retains the journalist style that made his Nine Nations of North America a valuable asset for common knowledge. He does not cite references that result in information overkill, frustrating the reader that another 'academic' flooded the market with a boring topic. Rather, he presents the information that makes this reading a valuable asset to the serious traveler who visits these cities and wants to learn the underlying reasons for change in them.

While he has his biases, notably on deciding which Edge Cities would receive attention, this does not hamper the work at all. In fact, no one can accuse Garreau, truthfully, of generalizing the trends in American cities. His appendix of major cities with either emerging or current Edge Cities is a great way of ending his discussion. To sum up his work, this reviewer quotes from Jane Jacobs' The Death and Decline of Great American Cities: "The scenes that illustrate this book are all about us. For illustrations, please look closely at REAL [emphasis added] cities." Garreau does exactly that and succeeds at informing the reader that the emerging communities around our largest American cities are more than mere bedroom or satellite places. They are the result of complex political, economic, ethnic, and environmental forces that have developed and continue to evolve over time and space in American society.

Terrific book on an extraordinary new city phenomenon
Mr. Garreau writes an insightful and balanced book on the new 'cities' that are growing up almost overnight around our old cities. He has done some ground-breaking research on how this all got started and where it might be going. I especially like the balanced presentation that allows the reader to decide whether these new Edge Cities are a boon, a disaster or somewhere in between.