Good Neighborhoods: A Study of In-Town and Suburban Residential Environments

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What makes a good neighborhood Can one neighborhood be good for all people Brower's study examines the variable image of the ideal residential area in contemporary and earlier writings, from utopian visions and popular media to historical records and the findings of social science research. Brower identifies four common ideal neighborhood types, each providing a distinct and specific residential experience that suits a particular way of life. He details the characteristics of each of these good neighborhoods, and argues that their coexistence in a single urban environment is not only possible, but desirable; it creates a healthy variety of residential areas that, together, suit the needs and desires of different urban dwellers. This absorbing and timely study will be of interest to scholars and professionals in urban studies, urban design and planning, environmental studies, environment psychology, and sociology.

Reviews

[O]ne is left both enriched and desirous of more after reading this book by urban studies and planning professor Sidney Brower.... Good Neighborhoods will be useful to academics and professionals in urban design, neighborhood planning, environmental psychology, and sociology.... One mark of a good urban treatise is that it helps the reader conceptualize the city more fully than before while still allowing space to challenge some of the book's specific interpretations. On this account, Good Neighborhoods represents a worthwhile trek.-Environment and Behavior
Brower's book is an interesting addition to the literature of urban studies and planning because it synthesizes many ideas in the interdisciplinary fields of neighborhood development and environmental design....Nicely produced, the book is well documented and illustrated with useful empirical examples.... Highly recommended for collections emphasizing urban planning, arhcitectural design, and community development.-Choice
Good Neighborhoods offers something for everyone...a useful reference to the planning practitioner and student, evoking new ideas and sicussing a multitude of old ones.-APA Journal
The significance of Brower's study lies in his development of prototypical neighborhoods. Traditioanlly, neighborhood satisfaction studies have attempted to identify qualities that typify good' or even ideal' neighborhoods. The result is a long list of desirable qualities, without any distinctions as to sources of satisfaction for different populations. Brower's study, by contrast, identifies four distinct types of neighborhoods boasting different qualites, each of which appeals to a particular segment of the population.... By connecting the subject of its analysis to larger contexts, this book challenges the notion of dualities that dominates so much of our thinking. It is a challenge that is long overdue.-Economic Development Quarterly
"One is left both enriched and desirous of more after reading this book by urban studies and planning professor Sidney Brower.... Good Neighborhoods will be useful to academics and professionals in urban design, neighborhood planning, environmental psychology, and sociology.... One mark of a good urban treatise is that it helps the reader conceptualize the city more fully than before while still allowing space to challenge some of the book's specific interpretations. On this account, Good Neighborhoods represents a worthwhile trek."-Environment and Behavior
"[O]ne is left both enriched and desirous of more after reading this book by urban studies and planning professor Sidney Brower.... Good Neighborhoods will be useful to academics and professionals in urban design, neighborhood planning, environmental psychology, and sociology.... One mark of a good urban treatise is that it helps the reader conceptualize the city more fully than before while still allowing space to challenge some of the book's specific interpretations. On this account, Good Neighborhoods represents a worthwhile trek."-Environment and Behavior
"Brower's book is an interesting addition to the literature of urban studies and planning because it synthesizes many ideas in the interdisciplinary fields of neighborhood development and environmental design....Nicely produced, the book is well documented and illustrated with useful empirical examples.... Highly recommended for collections emphasizing urban planning, arhcitectural design, and community development."-Choice
"Good Neighborhoods offers something for everyone...a useful reference to the planning practitioner and student, evoking new ideas and sicussing a multitude of old ones."-APA Journal
"The significance of Brower's study lies in his development of prototypical neighborhoods. Traditioanlly, neighborhood satisfaction studies have attempted to identify qualities that typify good' or even ideal' neighborhoods. The result is a long list of desirable qualities, without any distinctions as to sources of satisfaction for different populations. Brower's study, by contrast, identifies four distinct types of neighborhoods boasting different qualites, each of which appeals to a particular segment of the population.... By connecting the subject of its analysis to larger contexts, this book challenges the notion of dualities that dominates so much of our thinking. It is a challenge that is long overdue."-Economic Development Quarterly

Author Bio

SIDNEY BROWER is Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Maryland in College Park. He is the author of Design in Familiar Places (Praeger, 1988).