The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition

Rating:
Summary: Typical American Whining...
Review: A City in Mind is a quick read. Each chapter presents a city from Kunstler's unique point of view. He often spends a great deal of time on the history of the city - sometimes too much time - but the reader learns about why the city developed as it did. Some chapters are brilliant. The history of post-revolution Paris is quite fascinating, especially when compared to London. Rome, as one of the first major Western cities, is thankfully not left out. And as a Boston resident, I greatly enjoyed the chapter on Boston, particularly as he named Boston as the city most likely to thrive in the coming century.

Kunstler rips into Las Vegas like no other city before. I enjoy his sarcastic diatribes, but I know some people who are annoyed by them. After reading about Las Vegas, I can honestly say I'm glad that I've never been there. On the other hand, I think I could have attempted to have a bit more fun than JHK had I spent some time there.

This is not the best of Kunstler's books, but as a die-hard Kunstler fan, I had to read it. I would recommend the would-be reader to start with Geography of Nowhere or Home from Nowhere. Both lay the groundwork for understanding where A City In Mind is coming from. Kunstler writes a kind of sarcastic, comedic commentary on the state of our world when he isn't praising new urbanism - my favorite urban movement.

Rating:
Summary: a quick if disjointed read
Review: A City in Mind is a quick read. Each chapter presents a city from Kunstler's unique point of view. He often spends a great deal of time on the history of the city - sometimes too much time - but the reader learns about why the city developed as it did. Some chapters are brilliant. The history of post-revolution Paris is quite fascinating, especially when compared to London. Rome, as one of the first major Western cities, is thankfully not left out. And as a Boston resident, I greatly enjoyed the chapter on Boston, particularly as he named Boston as the city most likely to thrive in the coming century.

Kunstler rips into Las Vegas like no other city before. I enjoy his sarcastic diatribes, but I know some people who are annoyed by them. After reading about Las Vegas, I can honestly say I'm glad that I've never been there. On the other hand, I think I could have attempted to have a bit more fun than JHK had I spent some time there.

This is not the best of Kunstler's books, but as a die-hard Kunstler fan, I had to read it. I would recommend the would-be reader to start with Geography of Nowhere or Home from Nowhere. Both lay the groundwork for understanding where A City In Mind is coming from. Kunstler writes a kind of sarcastic, comedic commentary on the state of our world when he isn't praising new urbanism - my favorite urban movement.

Rating:
Summary: Inconsistent - Kunstler can do better
Review: Because of Kunstler's certainty that the age of cheap oil may doom our auto-dependent cities, his opinions of American Sunbelt cities are perhaps a bit more pessimistic than my own -- and if this book was limited to Atlanta and Las Vegas, I would be more sympathetic to the views of the negative reviewers.

But what makes this book worth reading is his discussion of European cities (especially Paris). Learning about other countries' policies gave me a bit more of a feel for what works and what doesn't. For example, by discussing Paris's use of street trees and smaller parks, Kunstler shows how not every park has to look as wild and "natural" as Central Park. And by explaining Roman classicism, he explains why classically styled buildings are more attractive (at least to him, and frankly to me as well) than modern glass boxes.

Rating:
Summary: interesting and witty
Review: I feel sorry for all those people here that give this book a poor review. It appears that it didn't match their expectations, or they just didn't "get it". I had never even heard of this author before, let alone read any of his other works, so I couldn't be disappointed.

This book is not trying to be comprehensive in its critique of cities. In fact, some of the chapters on cities don't necessarily have much to do with the cities themselves. Instead the author rambles on delightfully with a tapestry of anecdotes, sometimes about people, sometimes about places, set in the past, the present, and even the future. It might all seem a little bit disconnected unless you catch on to the underlying themes, his very strong opinions regarding what makes cities livable and unlivable places. He cares a lot--he is not just insulting I.M. Pei and others for the sake of getting attention.

Rating:
Summary: Often mildly entertaining, but ultimately superficial
Review: If you enjoy venemous put-downs, then Mr Kunstler is your man. He can't resist unloading his bile on a variety of victims, from modernist architects to Big Business. But if you're looking for something a little more thought-provoking than the fact that Atlanta is choked with cars and Paris has nice boulevards, then you will have to go elsewhere. Mr Kunstler 'visits' various large cities to illustrate one idea or another including; 'classic architecture is the answer to all our problems'(Rome), 'american culture is doomed' (Las Vegas) and 'nothing good can come from cannibalism' (Mexico City). The mind-boggling complexity of the modern-day city does not deter Mr Kunstler from making sweeping generalizations to the point where you wonder whether he ever really needed to visit these places in order to formulate his ideas.

On the plus side, Mr Kunstler does provide a useful potted history of the cities that appear in this book. It is hoped that these will inspire some readers to seek a more balanced analysis of the urban experience elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Notes from a curmudgeon
Review: In many ways, James Kunstler's "The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition" is simply one long bash against big cities. London is "sordid", Mexico City is a "hypertrophied organism", Las Vegas a "dubious urbanoid organism", Atlanta is a "galaxy of Edge City projects tied together by freeways and gruesome collector streets." Paris, Boston, Berlin and Rome don't fare much better. Good golly, it almost makes you wonder why we city-dwellers have actually chosen to live here.

A book subtitled "Notes" is entitled to be personal, random and subjective. Taken as such, there's a good deal here to inform, entertain and warn: Just don't expect objectivity or sensible suggestions for improvement. Kunstler sees the urban future given over to "tarantulas, buzzards and rats." But many of we city-dwellers live where we do because of the complicated histories behind our places of abode and the disordered messiness of the buildings, streets, parks and people. "The City in Mind" feeds that craving by telling some genuinely interesting stories about the background of these cities.

Kunstler uses Rome to digress on classical architecture, Mexico City to retell the history of Mexican Indian civilization and its effect on modern urban bureaucracy, and Berlin to tie a community's self-image to its choice of architecture. The problem is that, since he concentrates only on a few aspects of each city's development - and usually negative aspects, at that - readers not personally familiar with these cities are going to get a very distorted view of them. I know most of these cities, I've lived in more than one, but I still don't trust the picture presented of the couple I haven't personally visited.

At least one can't accuse the author of a foolish consistency. The chapter on Mexico City describes in some sympathetic detail the possible reasons behind the Aztecs' docility in the face of Spanish assault. But another chapter fails to identify the exact same phenomenon in Atlanta suburbanites who are faced with the carnage caused by automobiles sharing space with humans. He condemns Boston's plan to use the 27-acre site over the Big Dig for a huge "open space", but is as "shocked" as a Victorian maiden when startled by another man enjoying London's Hampstead Heath who steps into his path from behind one of the trees in a "thicket of real woods."

I suspect that most of the negative reviews of this book have come from people who have seen their favorite cities gored by Kunstler. It's fine for us to complain about our cities, is the attitude, but we just don't appreciate visitors from Saratoga Springs doing the same thing. That's unnecessarily defensive. Our cities have burned to the ground (Atlanta and London), been bombed into smithereens (Berlin), and fallen on hard times (Rome and Paris). They will survive a curmudgeon.

Rating:
Summary: Kunstler fails to impress
Review: James Kunstler presents us with yet another take on the urban problems of our day. However, I found this tome disappointing in more ways than one. First, his focus is towards a disproportionate amount of history, and as a consquence, this book lacks real engagement with modern issues. Although James Kunstler has some great ideas, his punchy, straightfoward style does not read with any authority, but rather, like a small child who is bitter about not getting what he wants. I found several editorial mistakes in the forward and in the chapter on Paris, and the book itself is confused about it's own name. The cover says "Notes on the Urban Condition" but the title page says "Reflections on the Urban Condition" It's a small, but I think quite preventable error by the Free Press. His dedication to Andres Duany, perhaps one of the more controversial figures in urban planning today, sets his agenda before the reader gets to page one. What was even more blatantly agenda-serving was his reference to the 'great work' of the the Duany-Plater-Zybek firm in his book. I found that a bit over the top and quite frankly, unnessecary.
Overall, I was simply disappointed with the book and although it might serve a great purpose to historians wishing to research Haussman or Frederick Law Olmstead, it serves little use to the layman wishing to discover more about the modern urban condition. Although his previous two books were quite enjoyable, Kunstler's style has become too distracting to read. I offer up a suggestion that he might possibly sit down and dig deeper than the history books before publishing something else. The topics he attacks are timely and interesting, but his stlye lacks sophistication and this book, consequently, lacks real purpose...

Rating:
Summary: Stick to commentary on the urban condition...
Review: While Kunstler in the past has accurately described the current dilemma of the space in which we live, particularly in the Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, his focus is much less acute in this text. Take his chapter on London--instead of his usual critical eye discussing the landscape of London, we get a rehashed lesson in history and countless digressions in reference to other cities topped off with a remark about homosexuals in a park. Most annoying however, is his increasing penchant for attacking individuals rather than problems (note his inexcuseable comments about a woman who has just lost her husband in his chapter on Atlanta). His anger may keep him vigilant on the subject of suburban sprawl, but it often times detracts from the reader empathizing with the position he puts forward.