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Jane Jacobs RIP
Pre-eminent urban scholar Jane Jacobs dies.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which she wrote in 1961, is still the classic work on city neighborhoods -- how they work, what makes them living and vibrant and real. It's one of the few college textbooks I kept, and I still pull it out when I want to make a point about planning. Her legacy is secure, but the Cities world will miss her.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which she wrote in 1961, is still the classic work on city neighborhoods -- how they work, what makes them living and vibrant and real. It's one of the few college textbooks I kept, and I still pull it out when I want to make a point about planning. Her legacy is secure, but the Cities world will miss her.
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What did you study in college?
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That's very cool -- it's nice when things blend together like that! Of course, my academic loves have nothing to do with my job, so I find that doubly cool. ;)
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Meep.
It was something I could see myself studying more, but I wasn't sure how much work there was for city planners!
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Oh yeah, I love that stuff. How cities are set up and designed and what makes them work and what makes them fail.
I thought about going into city planning, too, but so much of it is economics and I hate economics, always have. So I gave up on that idea pretty quick. I still find the design and policy aspects really interesting, though.
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Not closely, although there was a 3-2 BA/MArch program (3 years doing Cities at BMC, 2 doing architecture at UPenn). But I never knew anyone who did that. I used their architecture library a few times, mostly to get at rare archival stuff.
Definitely check out "Death and Life". It's a classic for a reason. "Learning from Las Vegas" by Venturi/Scott Brown is also very worth reading. I admire Venturi's theories very much, although strangely his actual designs often leave me cold. Not sure why.
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