Jane Jacobs vs. Robert Moses

A review by John King of Anthony Flint's new book, Wrestling With Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City.

1 minute read

July 29, 2009, 6:00 AM PDT

By rbregoff

"For those of us who care about cities and why they flourish or fade, the accepted wisdom boils down to this: Robert Moses bad, Jane Jacobs good.

Moses lives in urban lore as the ruthless New York bureaucrat who forced highways through neighborhoods with no regard for real lives in the way. Jacobs is his antithesis, the Greenwich Village everywoman who enshrined the virtues of messy vitality in her still-potent "The Death and Life of Great American Cities."

Now there's a book that shows how these mythic characters shaped each other's work and reputations - a volume that leaves me wishing there was some way today to combine the best traits of both."

Thanks to Robert Bregoff

FULL STORY: Wrestling With Moses

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 in The San Francisco Chronicle

Architecture Community / Economic Development Environment History / Preservation United States New York Urban Planning Robert Moses New York City Jane Jacobs View More

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