Rating: 
Summary: Easy solutions not offered here.
Review: Marshall, lays it out. Our cities are determined by our transportation choices and our transportation choices are political decisions. Not a very sexy situation and no easy solutions for so many American cities. For Marshall, front porches, alleys and over designed communities ala Andres Duany cover over and contribute to sprawl.As a Portland Metro resident I'm happy Marshall feels so good about what Portland is doing, but I worry about the rest of Oregon and any urban area that is not investing in transportation options beyond larger, faster roads. Marshall is a fan of Oregon's Urban Growth Boundaries, but fails to realize the continual outward creep they are subject to. The book is a good read for beginners and those familiar with urban design. Marshall's formal occupation as journalist helps make the reading easy. Suburban Nation (by Duany) makes a good companion. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A critique of New Urbanism & Libertarian selfishness
Review: This book gets 5 stars because Marshall has understood someting that other writers on this subject have missed entirely. The form of our cities is not a result of free-market forces, it is a result of political choices and in a democratic society voters can control those choices. I am so tired of hearing misguided free-market libertarian types insist that traffic jams, strip malls, suburban blandness, endless freeway expansion and social isolation are what people would choose to buy if they actually knew how to make other choices. Marshall realizes that building a good city requires citizens to acknowledge themselves as citizens. The impulse towards suburban living and car-dominated transport is not a step towards individual liberty. To have these things, people must abandon the kind of public life necessary for democracy and give up some degree of political participation for the supposed security of a gated community or a planned community. I appreciated this book as much for its heartfelt support for the democratic ideal of citizenship as for its insightful critique of the flaws in the New Urbanist movement.
Rating:
Summary: engaging, diverse, and open-ended
Review: Written in a lively and well-researched journalistic style, this book essentially lays down the pieces of a much larger puzzle that the reader must solve for him/herself. As other reviewers have mentioned, it does not offer many concrete solutions and it does not pretend to have easy answers. Instead, it is a far-reaching look at urban spaces, ranging from the new town of Celebration, Florida to the progressive and inspiring city of Portland, Oregon. Marshall also presents an intelligent and logical criticism of New Urbanism, which offers less satisfying and holistic solutions than its descendant, the SmartGrowth movement. Overall, this is an eye-opening, passionate, and highly readable book on the nuances of urban life and planning in contemporary America.
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