The Death and Life of Great American Cities book club questions

1. 1.

   Jacobs wrote in 1961 about urban renewal policies that destroyed neighborhoods. Can you think of more recent examples — in cities you know — of the same dynamic playing out?

2. 2.

   The book argues that mixed-use zoning produces life while single-use zoning produces dead zones. How does this apply to the places where you live or work?

3. 3.

   Jacobs's 'eyes on the street' argument is that informal social control requires density and diversity. What does this suggest about gated communities, suburbs, and remote exurban development?

4. 4.

   Her framework is built primarily on older, dense, mixed-income neighborhoods in cities like New York. Does it apply equally to newer cities, sunbelt development patterns, or less economically diverse neighborhoods?

5. 5.

   Jacobs was not a trained planner and her work drew on observation more than formal analysis. Is that a strength or a weakness of her argument?

6. 6.

   The planning establishment she attacked was motivated partly by genuine desire to improve living conditions for poor people. Where did that project go wrong, and why?

7. 7.

   How has the rise of remote work and e-commerce changed the urban dynamics Jacobs described? Would she need to revise her four conditions for street vitality today?

8. 8.

   Which of the four generators of diversity — mixed uses, short blocks, mixed building age, sufficient density — is hardest to achieve through policy? Why?

9. 9.

   Jacobs fought Robert Moses over a highway that would have cut through Washington Square Park. If you had been a New York City official at the time, what would you have decided, and on what grounds?

10. 10.

    The book has been used to justify both preservationist opposition to new development and pro-development arguments for density and infill. Which interpretation do you find more faithful to her actual argument?

11. 11.

    What neighborhood — in any city you know — seems to embody the conditions Jacobs describes? What neighborhood seems to violate them most completely?

12. 12.

    Jacobs valued the self-organizing capacity of urban communities. What does her work suggest about the appropriate scope of city planning and government intervention in urban life?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.