The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking

By Project for Public Spaces, Jay Walljasper, Project for Public Spaces (PPS)

Abandoned lots and litter-strewn pathways, or rows of green beans and pockets of wildflowers? Graffiti-marked walls and desolate bus stops, or shady refuges and comfortable seating? What transforms a dingy, inhospitable area into a dynamic gathering place? How do individuals take back their neighborhood?

Neighborhoods decline when the people who live there lose their connection and no longer feel part of their community. Recapturing that sense of belonging and pride of place can be as simple as planting a civic garden or placing some benches in a park.

The Great Neighborhood Book explains how most struggling communities can be revived, not by vast infusions of cash, not by government, but by the people who live there. The author addresses such challenges as traffic control, crime, comfort and safety, and developing economic vitality. Using a technique called "placemaking"-- the process of transforming public space -- this exciting guide offers inspiring real-life examples that show the magic that happens when individuals take small steps, and motivate others to make change.

This book will motivate not only neighborhood activists and concerned citizens but also urban planners, developers and policy-makers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865715815
• ISBN13: 9780865715813
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: New Society Publishers
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

What Makes A Great Neighborhood?

Great neighborhoods are built by the neighbors living in them: working there, buying there, fixing it up, loving it. Jay's book is a wonderful tool for anyone who loves their neighborhood. It's full of practical ideas and persuasive philosophies for helping a neighborhood wake up to itself. What are the things that make people want to stop and explore? What makes residents of a great neighborhood want to settle down and never leave? A must-have for anyone who's interested in what makes neighborhoods more livable.

Excellent Resource for Community Building!

My professional work involves partnering with neighbors to create and sustain vital neighborhoods. This is an invaluable, easy to read book that spurs ideas and reminds us that great neighborhoods are not created by those just sitting on the sidelines.

Blends practicality and inspiration into an uplifting whole

Written by Jay Walljasper, a Senior Fellow of the Project for Public Spaces, The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Placemaking is a how-to guide for local communities to improve the quality of life for their residents through building shared bonds. From creating great places to hang out (a park with few hidden spaces and scattered vendors selling refreshments is more likely to deter homeless people and drug dealers from using it), to reducing crime (ordinary people's eyes and physical presence on the street are much more likely to deter crime than iron bars on windows), foster economic vitality (promoting locally grown/cooked/made food is kind to the environment as well as the local economy), and much more. Drawing heavily upon real-life examples in communities that made a measurable positive difference, The Great Neighborhood book blends practicality and inspiration into an uplifting whole and is enthusiastically recommended reading for concerned citizens, neighborhood watch groups, and municipal boards, among many others.

Hope for Neighborhood Revival

The Great Neighborhood Book is full of examples and ideas for down to earth you and me kinds of action that inspire and energize to make things happen in our neighborhoods. It includes getting to know neighbors, putting benches out at natural pausing places, greening and gardening ideas, and simple suggestions. Recommend it for community organizations, individuals and planning groups.