When you walk out your front door, what do you see? Who are your neighbors, and where did the names of your streets come from? Can you walk to a bus stop, and does a highway cut through your community? What is the state of your sidewalks, and do people use them? It can be easy to take the place you live for granted as normal, expected, or inevitable. But the built environment is not an unavoidable or natural occurrence—people made decisions and policies with cascading consequences for what a city looks like today. Check out these eye-opening pieces of non-fiction about the forces that have shaped our urban spaces and the possibilities for their future.
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A delightful read for anyone curious to see the streets around them in a new light, illuminating the systems, structures, and symbols we might pass by every day without wondering where they come from or what purpose they serve.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and eAudio on Libby and as an eBook and eAudio on Hoopla.
This book explores the way that American cities gradually pushed out their native wildlife and how today, many of our own decisions have accidentally brought them back, giving us the opportunity to learn to coexist and create better spaces for everyone.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby.
A deep dive into the origins and hidden meanings of street names and numbers, from Ancient Rome to Kolkata to modern day Manhattan, and how something as simple as an address has vast implications for how we live and navigate the world.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby.
An impassioned account of the ways federal, state, and local government enabled and enforced racial segregation in American cities with policies and practices that still affect what our neighborhoods look like today.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and eAudio on Libby and as eAudio on Hoopla.
This book examines the revivals of post-industrial cities like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore and how pockets of revitalization grab attention as neglected neighborhoods are left to decline, while also providing practical suggestions to build resilient, equitable cities.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby.
A monumental portrait of Robert Moses, a man who, despite never having been elected to office, enjoyed an unchecked and unparalleled level of power for forty years over both New York City and state, bending its built environment to his tastes.
This title is also available for checkout as eAudio on Libby.
A sweeping examination an often-overlooked part of history, when six million Black Americans uprooted their lives in the south and migrated to northern and western cities in search of a better future, changing the course of their own lives and the new cities they called home.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby.
