This year I attempted to read a book a week, for a total of 52 books throughout the year. These books were in addition to my school-related reading, which tends to be all textbooks as I am a math and economics major, but they added to what I was learning in fields different from my classes. I didn’t quite achieve my goal, ending the year with 47 books finished, but I did read some urbanist books that Streets.mn readers may enjoy.
So, in the spirit of the New Year, here are my book recommendations from 2024, as well as a couple I am looking forward to reading in 2025.
“Walkable City” and “Walkable City Rules” by Jeff Speck
By far the best urbanism book that I have read this year is “Walkable City” by Jeff Speck, an urban planner and co-founder of the firm Speck Dempsey. This book is the perfect answer to “why urbanism”? It speaks to the importance of a walkable city, how the design of the streets, buildings, transit and policies all play into making a city function — or not. Additionally, it uses data to back up the general assumption that walkable cities are healthier, safer, more financially sound and generally make people happier. The book was originally published in 2012. I recommend you read the 10-year anniversary edition, which includes an extra 100 pages of new material from the author.
“Walkable City” established the theory of walkability, the why. “Walkable City Rules,” published in 2018, establishes the how, the ways in which we can build and retrofit our cities to become more walkable. These books complement each other well, with one focusing on theory and the other on application. If you are going to read any book (or two) on urbanism, I recommend you start with these two, in the order written.
“Strong Towns” trilogy, by Charles L. Marohn, Jr.
My second recommendation is the Strong Towns series consisting of “Strong Towns,” “Confessions of a Recovering Engineer” and “The Housing Trap” — all authored or coauthored by Strong Towns founder and president Chuck Marohn. Each book is a quick read at about 200 pages, making the sum of all three similar to one book. Strong Towns, a nonprofit focused on making cities more financially resilient, offers a great introduction to urbanist concepts, and this series is no different.
You will learn why the suburban model of development is financially doomed to fail, why most traffic engineers actually do more harm than good and how the housing crisis has become so severe despite having a housing bubble burst just 16 years earlier. The series will walk you through the root of all of these issues and explain the common-sense solutions that can improve our cities, and our lives. Lastly, Marohn is a Minnesota author, residing in Brainerd.
“Human Transit” by Jarrett Walker
“Human Transit” is an overview on proper transit system design written by Jarrett Walker, a transit planning consultant. The book covers the ways that different transit lines can be overlayed, how bus/train stops can be placed and how these choices, as well as many more, change the functioning of the entire system. Different choices lead to different types of systems, and the community that will use the systems needs to make these choices.
That is why it is vital that the public is educated on transit system design and people are able to give accurate, informed feedback to transit professionals. You can see this with Metro Transit’s changes that have come with Network Now, in which we can see many of Walker’s principles being applied, such as the rollout of bus rapid transit, increasing frequency on lines with the highest ridership and changes around pulse scheduling.
“Evicted” by Matthew Desmond
“Evicted” covers the eviction crisis in North America by focusing on the City of Milwaukee, which Princeton Sociology Professor Matthew Desmond chose because he believed it captured a general experience in an underrepresented urban city. This is a sociology book centered around eight families in Milwaukee and covers their struggles with evictions and finding housing. Evictions primarily affect low-income households, with a disproportionate amount being people of color, and make stable housing increasingly difficult. The book reveals both the societal and personal consequences of evictions: housing instability, family stresses, increased crime rates and even negative impacts on children’s school success.
Minneapolis has its own share of eviction issues. A study published shortly after Desmond’s book found that in two Minneapolis ZIP Codes — 55411 and 55412, both in North Minneapolis — evictions of renters stood between 45% and 48% between 2013 and 2015. This compares with the next highest ZIP Code, 55402, in Downtown Minneapolis, which sat at around 25%.
Although this data is a decade old, the issue remains, especially post COVID-19, when renter evictions were up 44% across Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Housing Partnership. Overall, “Evictions” is an insightful look into both the systemic and interpersonal issues that evictions cause.
“The Death and Life of Great American Cities” by Jane Jacobs
Of course I have to mention “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” considered the bible of urbanism. Given that I have already covered the book in a previous Streets.mn article, I will leave it at this: Jane Jacobs, a journalist and activist who died in 2006, at age 89, provides one of the best descriptions of what makes cities function properly. While “Death and Life” is her most well-known book, Jacobs has several other books and numerous articles that are worth reading, including the book “The Economy of Cities” and the article “Downtown Is for the People.”
I would also like to highlight a few books that I am looking forward to reading this year.
“Meet Me at the Library” by Shamichael Hallman
I believe libraries are an essential public service and one of the best institutions in America today. They are centers of learning that bring together vastly different communities under one roof to connect. Outside of just books, libraries are increasingly offering more services, from WiFi hotspots, tools, e-books and other media. In today’s increasingly polarized environment, I believe we need to lean into our libraries for accurate information and learning, as well as for community and support resources.
This book was written by Shamichael Hallman, a director at the Urban Libraries Council. From the publisher, “While public libraries have long been thought of as a place for a select few, increasingly they are playing an essential role in building social cohesion, promoting civic renewal and advancing the ideals of a healthy democracy.” This book was released last October.
“The Banks We Deserve” by Oscar Perry Abello
Much as we may think banks are trying to get the better of us, they play an essential role in the economy and provide credit to the average American. Banks helped millions of Americans purchase mortgages and become first-time homeowners, helping them to find shelter and build investments. But then banks built a bubble upon this very same housing that nearly destroyed the economy. Banks are necessary, and that means they must work well.
Next City journalist Oscar Perry Abello covers community banks and how their resurgence can improve the banking system and help communities at the same time. From the publisher, “For a community or industry that is being ignored by big banks, the idea of starting up a new bank or credit union rarely figures as an option. Abello shows advocates, organizers and innovators that it can be done, is being done, and describes a path to support more community banks and credit unions.” This book will be released in February 2025.
“The High Cost of Free Parking” by Donald Shoup
Published in 2005, “The High Cost of Free Parking” is now considered a classic in the urbanism space. In it Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor of urban planning at UCLA, lays out the price we all pay for entirely free parking: more expensive items at the stores, higher rents at our apartments, higher taxes to construct public parking facilities.
Taken together, these indirect costs add up to an eye-shattering number. Shoup proceeds to list many of the public policy solutions that we can implement to decrease the cost we collectively pay for parking and poor land use.
What are your “best books”? If you have comments about any of these books, or suggestions of your own, please comment on Streets.mn’s Bluesky or Facebook accounts.