I agree with Jackie when she states that our city has changed drastically within the past twenty years. Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities was published about two decades ago, which may be why I disagree with a few of her viewpoints. She starts off her passage by claiming that there are many slums because of poor city planning. While this may be true, I find her statements a bit biased. Jacobs has a very negative outlook on the way our city functions, criticizing places such as the civic centers and the North End. She claims that such “low-income projects” turn the neighborhoods into places “worse than the slums they were supposed to replace”. Like Jackie mentioned, Jacobs failed to mention the “projects” that were successful, such as the transformation of Times Square. Within a few decades, Times Square had changed from an X-rated entertainment central to a family friendly, world renowned tourist attraction. It has made New York one of the most coveted cities to visit or live in. As Liz mentioned in her blog, Jacobs is against “orthodox city planning”. This is one argument I agree with. I believe that each city is largely affected by the people living in it. It is the citizens that shape the city, not so much the city planning or designing.
I had always taken public transportation for granted. After reading Mumford’s passage in “The City in History”, I learned a lot about the origins and importance of public transportation. Not only does it make it convenient for residents to go about their daily routines, but it also causes our city to prosper and grow. Without public transportation, there wouldn’t be as many jobs and companies. Our economy and society would have been extremely limited.
