Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.
Jane Jacobs
As I remarked before, much of the power of Jane Jacobs' book comes from the rigorous structure of the argument. Part One establishes Diversity as a measure of healthy urban life. Part Two looks at what makes for diversity: the factors which make diversity within city districts possible. She identifies four which are crucial enough to be considered needs. The six chapters in part two are organized almost as if they could stand by themselves: Chapter 7 serves as an introduction, and Chapter 12 as a discussion for chapters 8 through 11.
One of the great reforms of the last years of the 19th century was to use zoning to create districts within cities and towns in which only one type of activity took place. Recently the logic of this has been questioned by a number of urban critics, including James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere. Perhaps the first person to raise the issue was Jane Jacobs. Use this chapter to seek examples of mixed primary uses as well as to understand what happens when these are not present.
Chapter 10. Need for Aged Buildings.
The most interesting idea here, in my estimation at least, is the idea that cities need buildings which are not in prime condition. When Jacobs argues for "aged" buildings, she is not doing this because of their intrinsic charm or historic value, but for another reason altogether. You will need to know what this is, and why she sees this as important.
Chapter 11. Need for Concentration.
Traditionally, Americans have looked at high population densities as a bad thing. Much of the sprawl we see around our cities has resulted from a push for less density. Jacobs challenges this concept and suggests that high density is in fact not a bad thing at all. You'll need to understand why.
Chapter 12. Some Myths about Diversity.
A myth is a commonly held belief upon which persons act as if it were true. If the myth is true, obviously there is no harm. If the myth is merely irrelevant, there is no harm done, either. But if the myth is false, then the behavior arising from it is positively harmful, and may evoke disaster in the long run. The myths Jacobs identifies are these:
Diversity is Ugly
Diversity causes Traffic Congestion
Diversity invites ruinous Uses.
As you read this section see how Jane Jacobs counters each of these myths with her exposition of the real situation.
"James Howard Kunstler is the author of The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, two books that brought the specter of suburbia to light for millions of Americans and struck a nerve among those longing for a better place to live. His relentless dogging of suburbia is well founded: "I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work." Visit Orion magazine to read an essay by Kunstler by clicking on his picture at the left.
Kentlands is a brand new "surburban" town within commuting distance of Washington, D. C. It is built to the principles of New Urbanism, a movement which owes much to Jane Jacobs' thought. Click on the Illustration to tour it.
Lest we think that all of New York City is like Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, consider Mott Avenue in The Bronx. This neighborhood demonstrates Jacobs' point about the necessity for agedbuildings. Click on the picture to tour Motthaven, and to visit a super website, Forgotten New York, click here.
Is Diversity Ugly, or is Uniformity? Click on the picture of Laguna Niguel, California, for an article on the effects of suburban sprawl in California.
Does Diversity cause traffic congestion or does uniformity? Count the cars and other vehicles in this very small segment of an interstate highway during the daily commute for another insight into the problems caused by separating human activies across too much geographical space. Click on the image for a study of Urban Sprawl at Science Daily
For Monday, February 28
I'm rather betting that you can find a neighborhood something like this in your city, though it may take a bit of looking. One point to start: look for intersections of bus or trolley routes. Businesses tend to spring up around such places. Why? Think of this. How boring is it to wait for a bus, especially after you've seen one just leave without you on it.
North Beach, San Francisco, is one slum which "unslummed" itself. Once San Francisco's "Little Italy" and later home to the "Beatniks" ithas become gentrified in the last decades of the 20th century. "Gradual money" accomplishes projects like this one: a building from the early 20th century is being jacked up to insert a garage underneath, and the entire area now serves an upscale population with toney boutiques, bars, and specialty stores. Click on the illustration to visit a North Beach website, and browse there awhile.
East Harlem, alternately known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio, is another area which struggles to escape the designation of slum. The website of East Harlem, declares "Although classified as a 'poor' community by many, East Harlem is rich in culture, political activity, ideas, ideals, religion, and people" The Hope Community Center is pictured on the left, and notice how many of Jane Jacobs views on neighborhood safety are represented there. Click on the picture to visit the website.
There is a special tool which can help most of you understand some of this better. Open Google Earth, and in the area entitled “layers” identify a file folder saying Gallery (Symbol is a star). Open that folder and scroll down until you locate a folder entitled Google Earth Community and locate the checkbox next to Housing Projects. Put a check in the box and a layer will be overlaid when you visit your city. The Housing Projects will be identified by the letter I. Where are they? Some of you will be able to see what they look like at ground level by Google Maps Street Level. Try that out. Does what you find suggest that what Jacobs says about traditional ways of treating slums is accurate or applicable in your city? (If your cities don’t have this available through google,...See if you can figure out an alternative way to uncover this or similar information)
A Providence neighborhood slowly unslums:
PPSRF (Providence Preservation Society Revolving Fund) assisted Stop Wasting Abandoned Property, a statewide CDC, in obtaining State and Federal Historic Tax Credits for the rehabilitation of 7 houses on the upper part of Pine Street. These typical multi-family structures of the late 19th and early 20th century were originally built for the growing middle class in Providence. Prior to renovations, the houses were in very poor condition mostly due to fire and abandonment. Today the restored buildings house 30 affordable apartments. The project also used Low Income Tax Credits and HOME funds.
15. Much of our civic energy is spent attacking the problem of slums. Jacobs understands perpetual slum areas as products of dynamic forces, what she calls a “vicious circle.” She then makes a rather astonishing claim that if the cycle can be broken, a slum will “unslum” itself, without massive public intervention. If that wasn’t radical enough, she goes on to suggest the factor which keeps a slum from unslumming is “too many people move out of it too fast–and in the meantime dream of getting out.” You will need to understand this claim. You will also need to distinguish between the idea of a “slum” and the idea of a “stable low-income area.” Finally, you will need to understand the ways slums spontaneously cure themselves by “unslumming.”
Another complicated Providence Border Vacuum... The ribbon winding through here consists of the extension to route 6 plus the Amtrak main line to New York City, just a bit down from the Providence Mall. At the left are factories of late 19th century vintage. Originally, these would have been accessible by foot from the housing to the right.
One of the many border vacuums in Providence, which saw itself sliced every which way when the interstate highway system was built. This image presents an area just a bit north of where Interstate 195 joins Interstate 95. Downtown Providence is immediately off the image at the top right. Though an easy walk to downtown, the area is much decayed. Many parking lots here, few cars. Who would use the athletic field? Look at this area at street level by scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Read, inJacobs,
Part III. Forces of Generation and Decline
13. The Self-destruction of Diversity 315 - 335
14. The Curse of Border Vacuums 336 - 352)
15. Unslumming and Slumming - 353 - 379)
Now that we have our groups sorted out, I want you to spend a bit of time (a good bit actually) in integrating the work of Jacobs with your investigation of your several cities. I’d like the members of each group to locate evidence of the type of thing Jacobs talks about in the city it is investigating, using some of the tools I’ve been mentioning to you in e-mails and on previous weekly syllabi. For example, once you’ve found out what a “border vacuum” is, locate visual evidence of one of those “border vacuums” in your own city. In some cities this will be more of a challenge than the others, but there should be no city in which it is impossible to do. The same would be true for the other concepts in the other chapters.
13. By now I think we get the idea that the only way to understand Cities is to recognize their dynamism. Cities are always changing, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. To this point we’ve noticed that some of the worst things which happen to cities happen because good-intentioned people, acting from ignorance, do the wrong thing. Self-destruction of Diversity looks at ways “success” can lead to failure. The process Jacobs identifies is “sorting out.” Make sure you understand what it is, how it works, and why it is ultimately harmful.
For Thursday, March 3
14. To understand border vacuums you’ll need to understand what borders are. Railroad tracks and interstate highways are obvious ones, and you need to look no further than the edges of Route 95 in Providence downtown in order to see the vacuums which Jacobs describes. Another good place to look is along route 195 near where it joins 95. There are other kinds of borders, too. These are more subtle, and you will need to understand what their characteristics are. Finally you’ll need to understand why Jacobs calls these vacuums “curses.”
