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Reading list: On streets's sociability, form, and sustainability

"On Streets," edited by Stanford Anderson, is one of the street design books reviewed by Eran Ben-Joseph in Places, Issue 2, 1997. Other books in the review include:

  • The View from the Road - Donald Appleyard and Kevin Lynch
  • Livable Streets - Donald Appleyard
  • Great Streets - Allan Jacobs
  • The Image of the City - Kevin Lynch
  • Public Streets for Public Use - Anne Vernez Moudon
  • Skinny Street - City of Portland Transportation Office
  • Streets for People: A Primer for America - Bernard Rudofksy
  • Making Streets that Work - Seattle Design Commission
  • Streets and the Shaping of Towns and Cities - Michael Southworth and Eran Ben-Joseph

Since Ben-Joseph's review, other street-related publications have been published. Green streets in particular. It has rained heavily two out of the last three days in Berkeley and much of the water that falls on my block's sidewalks, the street, and driveways runs down the drain or, the rain forms micro-pools on the sidewalks.

Here is our addendum to Ben-Joseph's list:
  • Walking - Henry David Thoreau
  • The Death and Life of Great American Cities - Jane Jacobs (published in 1961)
  • The Politics of Public Space - Setha Low and Neil Smith (editors)
  • Wanderlust - Rebecca Solnit
  • The Boulevard Book: History, Evolution, Design of Multiway Boulevards - Allan Jacobs
  • Green Streets: Innovative Solutions for Stormwater and Stream Crossings; Trees for Green Streets - Oregon Metropolitan Council
  • Skinny Streets and Green Neighborhoods: Design for Environment and Community - Cynthia Girling and Ronald Kellett
  • Rain Gardens: Managing Water Sustainably in the Garden and Designed Landscape - Nigel Dunnett
  • Design for Water: Rainwater Harvesting, Stormwater Catchment, and Alternate Water Reuse - Heather Kinkade-Levario
  • Finding Room for Stormwater : A Review of Site and Design Opportunities in San Francisco (thesis) - Rosey A. Jencks (San Francisco Public Utilities Commission staff)
  • Green Alley Handbook (pdf) - Chicago Department of Transportation
  • Sustainable stormwater publications - City of Portland
  • Seattle ROW Improvement Manual - Streetscape Design Guidelines - Green Streets

In addition to public space design, it would be great to enable residents to harvest rainwater. In this regard, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is sponsoring a rainwater harvesting initiative. There is no official rainwater harvesting program in Berkeley but visit the Ecology Center website for resources and the Blue-Green Building website for examples of "water-friendly development in the East Bay."

Water-related posts

Nature-made: Plant*SF Sidewalk Gardens Rain (only) gardens: a plant palette and potential stormwater management Designing with water in mind Runnels in Cordoba, Sevilla, and Madrid

Comments

Anonymous said…
So interesting to read the Green Streets (Seattle) plan, hard to know what to make of it through the usual gobbledegook cityspeak language. I looked at the map but it doesn't really show which streets are being designated/considered (well, it shows lines, but the streets aren't always named). I'm going to have to look into this further, thanks for posting about it!
Anonymous said…
Have you heard of SEA (Street Edge Alternatives) Streets? Here's the link: www.seattle.gov/UTIL/About_SPU/Drainage_&_Sewer_System/Natural_Drainage_Systems/Street_Edge_Alternatives/index.asp