The Death And Life Of Great American Cities

There has been a recent phenomenon throughout the United States of gentrification. As older parts of neighborhoods are occupied by new tenants with money, the neighborhood changes and loses its old character. Those who might have lived in those neighborhoods their entire lives are pushed out as rents begin to skyrocket and the surroundings begin to change. This has happened in many neighborhoods. One of the most well known is San Francisco, where technology companies have brought in new software engineers that have caused local rents to skyrocket and people to move out of the area. However, just as importantly has been the influx of new money to Brooklyn, where local neighborhood changes have forced people from their homes, traditional music to be replaced, and old businesses to go bankrupt.

When a neighborhood is gentrified it will not only change the image of it, but also the services available there (Al-Kodmany 2011, 62-63). In other words, gentrification does not only have an impact on the physical aspect of the land, but also the resources that lie there. During the 90s, the Near West Side neighborhood located near Loop, an up-scale neighborhood, sought drastic changes within the area. The changes in racial demographics in the Near West Side indicated that the health risks that affected minorities dropped in the past decade (1992-2002) (Al-Kodmany 2011,

Cronon, William. Nature 's Metropolis, Chicago and the Great West. New York, NY: WW Norton & Company, 1991.

In modern day society , students are on instagram instead of taking notes in class, office workers shop on ebay at work and parents take their iphones to the beach instead of the books they used to to read. Maggies Jackson , a writer for Boston Globe states electronics are less of annoyances , yet becoming more of a distraction leading to a new dark age. Jackson uses personal stories and tells of her extensive research in the article to make her readers believe in her credibility. These three rhetorical appeals combining with her alarmed tone creates an effective argument on electric distranticon.

Over the last couple of decades, Buffalo has found itself in a grave housing crisis. The urban population is shrinking and the population in poverty is growing, leaving houses abandoned and left to fall apart. Although many cities in the Rust Belt are facing similar problems, about 15.7% of Buffalo housing was left vacant as of 2010, which places Buffalo as ninth in the nation for vacancy rate. As the masses abandon their homes, run down neighborhoods see an increase in crime and drug use, and a rapid decrease in property value (Armstrong et al. 1-2). Many see this deterioration, however, as an opportunity to renovate impoverished neighborhoods and make them more attractive to the upper and middle class. This process, known as gentrification, should increase the overall well being of residents by making neighborhoods safer,

Mesoamerica’s first metropolis was Teotihuacán. The metropolis included many palaces and temples, but the main structure was the Pyramid of the Sun. It also consisted of many streets and a huge market that sold various goods and agricultural produce. Most people lived in apartment compounds, some housing over 100 people, made of stucco and consisting of different rooms. Teotihuacán grew wealthy from agriculture due to its location in the Valley of Mexico. This valley provided them with fertile soil as well as a steady supply of water. As the city’s power and wealth declined, the ruling class abandoned the area and principalities and surrounding peoples competed for the farmland. Farmers at this time took

I agree with Nash Gray because Europe did not mandate all cultural influences that entered America’s culture. Long before the Europeans had arrived native americans had been making their own unique culture which is stated in “America’s Lost City” when comparing Cahokia to prevalent societies such as Mesoamerica. Another important observation about the natives predicament is that they were not only subjected to Christianity by Europe’s Spanish conquistadors but they were also exposed to African slaves who brought their respective cultures with them which was a major point in not only Nash Gray’s argumentation but also whenever we read about the Columbian Exchange from the book and in class. The influx of these new peoples lead to an increase

Everyone knows Detroit has its fair share of issues. Including abandoned homes, snow removal unsightly lawns and vacant lots, crime, bad roads, old plumbing nonworking street lights and many other problems. It is time to come together Detroit was once a beautiful city and can be once more the architectural dream in the early 19th century. The craftsmanship has declined the hand carved wood trim, stained glass windows and many other antiquates that made Detroit the great motor city and one if the paramount cities in the world. A place that holds a lot of history, fine arts, good food and, riverfront views, also some of the most beautiful theaters in the United States. Although the great city of Detroit cannot be brought back overnight the communities can contribute to the restoration of the city by buying into their communities. Buying into a community would require homeowners and renters who wish to become potential homeowners to pay a monthly fee with a reduced amount toward the purchase of their home. The fee would cover some amenities such as lawn maintenance, snow removal, and working street lights, the removal of blight. Citizens would be allowed to participate in decisions concerning any new developments, or prospects coming into the community, such as creating community gardens similar to the one created by Dan Muth, co-coordinator of the Bangor Community Garden, who states “They create great learning environments for gardeners or people who haven’t done

The silence is deafening. Other than the occasional screech of a cat fighting with a raccoon, there is no sign of human life. The nighttime is no time for neighborhood adventures, there is no one to save you from the dangers that lurk around every corner. Here, there are never any witnesses to avenge the victims of horrific crimes. A couple of weeks ago there was string of arson attacks; I watched the flames rise from the house across the way. I observed all the residents on the block as they stood outside asking each other, “Did anyone see anything?” After several weeks of investigation the answer always seemed to be no. Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities and E.B. White’s Here is New York are writings that both

Cities are generators of economic life and source of changes in the world. Thereby, Jane Jacobs in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities puts into relief the role of cities on the social and economic levels, while denouncing the disastrous consequences of urban renewal programs. To that extent, in chapters 2 and 3, she discusses "The Uses of Sidewalks”, arguing that over all people need safety and trust in their city. Therefore, first she claims the necessity of keeping streets and sidewalks safe because they are the “vital organs” of cities (29). Secondly, she argues that the functioning of cities should be organized in order to foster human interaction in which “casual public

Another tool that can be used to stimulate development and has been proven successful when implemented in the correct situation, is the use of tax-increment financing (TIF). The basic concept is to divert future property tax revenue increases from a region or a development to a fund that can be used to finance construction or renovation projects. For TIF’s to be successful sources of funding, “the TIF financing mechanism is purposefully designed to help raise property values” (Greenbaum, 2014). As a result, this method of financing is most beneficial in areas that are run down and would otherwise be left undeveloped. The Stapleton Colorado redevelopment is an example of how this strategy can be used to help finance the construction of communities that provide housing for all income levels. Through the use of $462 million dollars in TIF funds, the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) has helped finance the conversion of the old Stapleton Airport site into over 12,000 affordable residential units (RenewDenver.org, nd.). While controversial, TIF financing has proven to be effective when used correctly. For this reason, it should be considered as an option for funding affordable housing, especially in blighted areas or those that would otherwise be left undeveloped.

From an analytical aspect, Jane Jacobs and The Death and Life of American Cities mark a defining perspective in planning history and theory. A vast amount of visionaries prior to Jacobs constructed their ideal manifestations of what cities should aim to resemble and provide, while the profession of urban planning itself continued to progress into the new age of development. Set in a time of urban renewal, Jacobs’ book dares to contest previous proposals and concepts through her personal beliefs, though she was never actually an educated planner, architect, or landscaping major. Her critique is based on experiences and accounts she gathered

In Jane Jacobs’s acclaimed The Life and Death of Great American Cities, she intricately articulates urban blight and the ills of metropolitan society by addressing several binaries throughout the course of the text. One of the more culturally significant binaries that Jacobs relies on in her narrative is the effectively paradoxical relationship between diversity and homogeneity in urban environments at the time. In particular, beginning in Chapter 12 throughout Chapter 13, Jacobs is concerned greatly with debunking widely held misconceptions about urban diversity.

Perhaps the most definitive example of New Urbanism has been DPZ's project, Kentlands, a 352-acre community in Gaithersburg, Maryland begun in 1990. An oasis of good planning in a sea of suburbia, it is not only a model of Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) but also the predecessor to many other such neighborhoods developed within CSD areas. In Kentlands, much like Seaside, the Citizens' Assembly runs a recreation center and provides for common maintenance of public areas. Civic buildings and shopping in mixed-use buildings are within walking distance of the development's six architecturally distinct neighborhoods. This compact design reduces auto traffic significantly, allows children to go about their daily business without requiring a mother chauffeur and puts workplaces near their employees.5

Part two of Death and Life explains several conditions for city diversity based on the observations of different American cities and discusses in depth the four factors that Jacobs believe are critical for the development of a city. The basis for generating diversity lies in these conditions, and cannot be secludedly achieved by planning and designing. This part lays out the foundation and is the basis for the rest of the book. It shows urban planning and many possible remedies for creating equal diversity, and studies why these are not applied and the effects of it not being so.