Planners Across America - 7895

No two American cities are alike. In the great experiment that is federalism, the vast majority of American cities make their own decisions about how they look, how they’re laid out, how they grow, and, sometimes, how they shrink. They each follow their own rules and only loosely follow the same trends—sharing similarities, of course, but diverging in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. In most cases, one person is charged with making sense of it all. Planning directors must be familiar with reams of plans and codes, mediate among countless stakeholders, answer to elected officials, monitor cultural and demographic trends, and, perhaps most importantly, predict the future. They often balance precariously between asserting their visions and responding to popular (and political) will, and they must choose how much of the spotlight to occupy. Every planning director deploys these bureaucratic superpowers according to the particular needs, histories, and futures of their respective cities. Planners Across America highlights the idiosyncrasies of cities while capturing a distinct moment in American urban history, as experienced by planning directors in the nation’s largest cities. Few, if any, volumes have attempted to survey such a disparate group of American cities, from Albuquerque to Washington, D.C., and many in between. Accolades: “Planners Across America…allows you to tap into the minds of planning directors across the country. If you aspire to learn more about planning leadership, this is a book to read.” Mitchell Silver, FAICP, former president, American Planning Association “American cities form a constellation, each uniquely luminous while part of a whole, and these are the men and women who make them work – largely behind the scenes. To read these compelling interviews is to understand what makes these places so extraordinary.” Anthony Flint, senior fellow, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and author of Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took on New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City “American cities can learn from each other, and they are all subject to, and pioneers of, common trends. Planners Across America recognizes this reality and offers an ideal opportunity to appreciate both the diversity of and unity among America’s great cities.” Bill Fulton, Director, Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research; former Planning Director, City of San Diego Author: Josh Stephens covers urban planning for The California Planning and Development Report and is a frequent contributor to Planetizen.
ASIN: 0990616274
VSKU: BVV.0990616274.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Stephens, Josh
Binding: Paperback