Envisioning Better Communities

Author's Impact and Purpose

The author's work has shaped a generation of planners, designers, and landscape architects.

Content and Audience

In this book, the author brings his insights to a broader public, with a profusely illustrated demonstration of how local officials, planning commissioners, and everyday citizens can work to make their communities more attractive, more habitable, and more sustainable.

Challenges in Community Design

Despite the widespread acceptance of good design and planning principles throughout the professions, too many of our towns and rural areas remain needlessly ugly and inefficient.

Visual Comparisons and Solutions

In side by side comparisons of similar places and kinds of buildings, the author shows that we need not live amid sprawling, characterless visual blight. Simple design choices and effective municipal decisions can have tremendous impacts on the quality of our communities.

Writing Style and Message

Written in the author's well-known clear, accessible, nontechnical style, this book creates a sense of hope for those who face the everyday challenges of working with developers and landowners to create places that make economic, environmental, and aesthetic sense.

Call to Action

The author shows us that with diligence, thoughtfulness, and care, we can make our communities better in countless ways.