"Cities are the future of the human race, and Jeff Speck knows how to make them work."
-David Owen, staff writer at the New Yorker
Nearly every US city would like to be more walkable-for reasons of health, wealth, and the environment-yet few are taking the proper steps to get there. The goals are often clear, but the path is seldom easy. Jeff Speck's follow-up to his bestselling Walkable City is the resource that cities and citizens need to usher in an era of renewed street life. Walkable City Rules is a doer's guide to making change in cities, and making it now.
The 101 rules are practical yet engaging-worded for arguments at the planning commission, illustrated for clarity, and packed with specifications as well as data. For ease of use, the rules are grouped into 19 chapters that cover everything from selling walkability, to getting the parking right, escaping automobilism, making comfortable spaces and interesting places, and doing it now!
Walkable City was written to inspire; Walkable City Rules was written to enable. It is the most comprehensive tool available for bringing the latest and most effective city-planning practices to bear in your community. The content and presentation make it a force multiplier for place-makers and change-makers everywhere.
"Walkable City Rules is worth reading even for those of us who will never set foot in a planner's office. Like Walkable City, this book explains how a variety of laws and rules frustrate the person who wishes to get from one place to another on foot. But to a much greater extent than most books about walkability, this book tells readers what can be done to improve upon the status quo." "The book fairly explodes with practical and pragmatic ideas that civic communities, town planners, and especially the resident citizen should consider for the improvement and enhancement of their locale." "Walkable City Rules is a good primer for planning officials and elected officials, especially those inclined to support walkable urbanism. It is also written in a way to find appeal even among skeptics and status quo supporters." "With Walkable City, Jeff Speck demonstrated that he is the most relevant writer and thinker of his generation on the subject of city planning. With his new book, Walkable City Rules, he establishes himself as the most helpful. There is no single document poised to have a greater positive impact on our communities and on the practice of urban planning than this comprehensive and engaging text."---Ron Bogle, President and CEO, The American Architectural Foundation "Has there ever been a smarter, more illuminating, jargon-free, and deeply useful guide to making more sociable, healthy, prosperous, charming neighborhoods, towns, and cities? Every local leader and every engaged local citizen owes it to themselves to read Walkable City Rules."---Kurt Andersen, author of "Fantasyland" and host of public radio's "Studio 360" ""Filled with the photos, graphics, and charts that many of his fans felt were missing from the last book, the new volume comprises 1010 mini-chapters, each of which elegantly distills a single precept from his philosophy."" "What a tour de force! The world needs this book so much right now. Walkable City Rules is sure to change the face of neighborhoods, towns, and cities around this country and beyond."---Sarah Susanka, architect and author of "The Not So Big House" series and "The Not So Big Life" "Jeff Speck is a total rock star to me. He is a great planner, but his real gift is empowering people to reshape their own communities. There is a huge wave of us out there saying, 'Yes, I DO want to make my town more livable, walkable, equal, and fun.' Walkable City Rules is THE super-user-friendly resource to help us spring into action, wherever we are."---Dar Williams, singer-songwriter and author of "What I Found in a Thousand Towns" "If you want to make your city safer, healthier, greener
