This Land: The Battle over Sprawl and the Future of America - Hardcover

Flint, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801884195 ISBN 13: 9780801884191

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006

Synopsis

Despite a modest revival in city living, Americans are spreading out more than ever―into "exurbs" and "boomburbs" miles from anywhere, in big houses in big subdivisions. We cling to the notion of safer neighborhoods and better schools, but what we get, argues Anthony Flint, is long commutes, crushing gas prices and higher taxes―and a landscape of strip malls and office parks badly in need of a makeover.

This Land tells the untold story of development in America―how the landscape is shaped by a furious clash of political, economic and cultural forces. It is the story of burgeoning anti-sprawl movement, a 1960s-style revolution of New Urbanism, smart growth, and green building. And it is the story of landowners fighting back on the basis of property rights, with free-market libertarians, homebuilders, road pavers, financial institutions, and even the lawn-care industry right alongside them.

The subdivisions and extra-wide roadways are encroaching into the wetlands of Florida, ranchlands in Texas, and the desert outside Phoenix and Las Vegas. But with up to 120 million more people in the country by 2050, will the spread-out pattern cave in on itself? Could Americans embrace a new approach to development if it made sense for them?

A veteran journalist who covered planning, development, and housing for the Boston Globe for sixteen years and a visiting scholar in 2005 at the Harvard Design School, Flint reveals some surprising truths about the future and how we live in This Land.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

This Land is the story of development in America―how the landscape is shaped by a furious clash of political, economic, and cultural forces. It is the story of the burgeoning anti-sprawl movement, a 1960s-style revolution of New Urbanism, smart growth, and green building. And it is the story of landowners fighting back on the basis of property rights, with free-market libertarians who have since morphed into the Tea Party, home builders, road pavers, financial institutions, and even the lawn-care industry right alongside them.

Anthony Flint's updated introduction explores the burst housing bubble of 2008, when the epicenters of sprawl―Florida, Arizona, Nevada, California's Central Valley, the intermountain West―were hardest hit. After the crisis they became home to foreclosures and zombie subdivisions.

"Those who truly hate sprawl and want to fight back would be well advised to read this book."―Audubon

"A provocative and insightful overview of the challenges of sprawl."―Boston Globe

"Flint provides a historical perspective on how we became a suburban nation... with the easy-flowing, narrative skill of a journalist."―Architecture Boston

"As an inquiry into the backlash against 'smart growth'... it offers valuable insights and unsettling observations from the frontlines of the battles over land use and suburban development."―Urban Affairs Review

About the Author:

Anthony Flint is a fellow and director of public affairs at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is the author of Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took on New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0801884195
• ISBN 13: 9780801884191
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312