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Comment by logangilmour | Hacker News Reader

Also worth a read is 'A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction' if you're interested in an architectural look at how humans might live together better.

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Thanks for the link, I will probably read it. Are you familiar with Bjarke Ingels over at BIG, I thought his TED was super interesting, http://www.ted.com/talks/bjarke_ingels_3_warp_speed_architec...

Thanks, that was great! I've only very recently started exploring urban design - I spend my days building software. I have this vague notion that living in a city could be nicer, so I'm trying to familiarize myself with what the people who know what they're doing say about it. I'll look further into Ingels and BIG. Are there any other starting points you'd suggest?

I thought this book was interesting, ReThinking a Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking

I enjoyed this blog post, "Car Kill Cities" about parking lots in Atlanta, http://progressivetransit.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/cars-kill...

I've heard good things about "The High Cost of Free Parking" but I haven't read it.

I lived in Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany for a year, and when I got back everything seemed wrong.

I think the number 1 thing that the US is missing is a pedestrian only square, with cafes and restaurants lining the perimeter. The children can run around the square, while the adults socialize.

Something like these photos: http://www.carfree.com/cft/i056.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piazza_Navona_Rome.jpg

I love that book. Just browsing through it brings relief to the soul. Imagine if all buildings were alive like that!

Alexander's critique of modern architecture is devastating, but his later, hugely more ambitious work is somehow less compelling. Perhaps I should give it another chance.

Happy City is one of the better "published in the last year" books on the topic:

http://www.amazon.com/Happy-City-Transforming-Through-Design...

Thanks, I'm looking forward to reading it! I'm only just getting my feet wet with urban design, so I appreciate the link.

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