American Studies 334

Urban America

Roger Williams University

GHH 108

M, Th  3:30 - 4:50

Spring, 2011

Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D

Office: GHH 215

Hours: T, Th 9:00-10:30

M, W 1:00-2:00

Phone:   (401) 254-3230

E-mail:  mswanson@rwu.edu

Index

Read, in Jacobs

• Chapter 18, Erosion of Cities or Attrition of Automobiles, 440 - 484)
  

• Chapter 19, Visual Order: Its Limitations and Possibilities, pp.  485 - 510
  

• Chapter 20, Salvaging Projects, ML 511 - 526
  

For Monday, March 7

 

View Larger Map

Chapter 18

• Don’t let this chapter bog you down. We've already talked about some of this in passing. The principal  point is that cities and automobiles are natural enemies of each other.  The sub point is that attempts to accommodate more cars does not lead to less traffic:  it leads to mre.  See if you can   explain the argument here.  You might prowl around for areas in your city where wide sidewalks which Jane   Jacobs likes are prominent You might also want to check out your city on Traffic Land.. Alternatly, turn on the traffic layer on Google Maps
  

.     

Jane Jacobs would groove on Newbury St.,

View Larger Map

Above is a Street View of another failed Housing Project--this one in Chicago, Illlinois.  It is named after Ida B. Wells.  Click on her name to see the significance of this.  The demolition of failed housing projects does not always mean better living conditions for their former residents.  Cabrini - Green Estates in Chicago is in the process of being redeveloped.  Read about it by clicking on the name.

Read, in Jacobs

• Chapter 21, Governing and Planning Districts, pp. 527  - 558
  

• Chapter 22, The Kind of Problem a City Is, pp. 558 - 586
  

For  Thursday, March 10

A Providence Microenvironment, above.

Chapter 19

• Make sure you understand Jacobs’ analysis of the city as a three dimensional object.  Understand, too, her distinction between foreground and background, and why, for those who want to make cities interesting and liveable places the foreground is the more important.  How does one create an emphasis on interest “up close”?  Here again, you can look for instances where visual interruptions are pluses in your several cities.  (Hint: prowl around the intersections of streets in Google Maps, See if you can find some which present interesting visual interruptions on them, and compare them with ones with longer vistas).
  

Broad Street, Philadelphia, looking North. 

Placing the cursor over the image

reveals the same interection looking south.

Which is the more interesting vista?

Consider the same question regarding the image below.

Chapter 20

• Some Projects, such as Pruitt- Igoe in St. Louis (below), may not be salvageable.  Built in 1956, it was demolished in 1972, not twenty years after its completion. But maybe some projects can be saved short of completely tearing them down and starting over.  Use Google Earth to locate public housing in your cities (If your city has none, look at one of the others. and see if there is any indication of some of the techniques Jacobs suggests.  You may also find something useful in the  housing area of the official city website.
  

Chapter 21

• One of the ongoing debates in American Cultural generally is whether top down or bottom up planning and management work best.  Another way of thinking of this is the distinction between the role of the “expert” and the role of the “ordinary citizen”...whose voice should be primary?  What does Jacobs think about this, and, once you’ve determined that, what is the role of each in the city you’re investigating?  The City Website should give you a clue.  What kinds of public meetings are held, where, how often, and who sets the agenda?  ?  You may want to think a little about the role of “grass roots” organizations, as well.
  

Chapter 22

• You may need more time to read this chapter than the others on this week’s assignment, so budget accordingly. However, so many of you are taking a research methods course this may actually be a piece of cake for you. The central theme for this chapter concerns which analytical tools are best used for understanding cities and how they function. Jacobs describes three different types of intellectual problems which science has investigated. The distinctions will seem foreign to those of you who haven’t “done” a lot of science. The important thing to understand is that problem type two is the type which statistical analysis was developed to solve, and that problem type three, typified by modern life sciences, cannot be understood statistically. Jacobs wants us to use a life science (organic) model for understanding how cities work, not statistical models. Yet much of what underlies proposals for reforming cities is based upon the use of statistical data.  See if you can figure out why. Look too, at why she thinks the key lies in understanding what we might call micro-environments.  Can you recognize some micro-environments by prowling around in your city? 
  

This week we finish Jane Jacobs.   If you’re good at “cherry-picking,” or identifying the parts which are important for our particular tasks, and separating them from the parts which are important for other tasks, but not ours,  you’ll not have too much difficulty.  Focus on the subjects reflected in the chapter notes below.  There are pages which you can safely skim.  There are other places you’ll need to apply the brakes.  You should be getting good at deciding which are which.  Now that we're finishing up Jacobs it is probably time for me to ask you to reflect on her book a little.  Do I mean an exam?  Yup, I guess I do. I'm posting it noBut it won't be due until after Spring Break.