Radical Suburbs
Experimental Living on the Fringes of the American City

This book is a short six chapters, each a vignette of a different community that highlights the surprising potential of suburbs: the architecture, the ideas, the diversity (or lack thereof). Being from Northern Virginia, I was especially enthralled by the chapters about the New Deal city of Greenbel......more

The idea of American suburbia suggests notions of monotony, isolation, conservatism, nuclear families, white people, and a culture obsessed with wealth, privacy, and status-seeking. Living there is typically a non-option for anarchists. Cities tend to have social struggles and radical milieus. Rural......more

I didn’t like this book but found the comparison between Trevose and Levittown interesting......more

I have never lived in a “ticky-tacky” style suburb because of the connotations they carry - but this book is a fascinating reminder that Not All Suburbs fit this dull, lifeless stereotype. The stories the author shares lend some much-needed nuance to the suburban mythos that temper the disdain and s......more

I haven’t read much on city planning, but this was a great book for what it is. Introductory case studies. Perhaps this was insufficient for people more versed on the subject, but I think this was a great starting point for helping get into the broader spectrum of nonfiction books on housing and urb......more