Main entry:

Ford, Larry, 1943-

Title & Author:

America's new downtowns : revitalization or reinvention? / Larry R. Ford.

Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, ©2003.

Description:

340 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Series:

Creating the North American landscape

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-333) and index.
Preface -- Introduction : The downtown imperative and the need for comparative studies -- 1. The American downtown: the myth of a golden age -- 2. The evolution of the American downtown, 1850-2 -- 3. The downtown stage : physical site, street morphology, and civic space -- 4. The traditional downtown functions : offices, retailing, hotels and convention centers -- 5. Downtown expands : major attractions, historic districts, residential neighborhoods, and transportation options -- 6. Ranking downtowns : toward a model of spatial organization -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Also issued online.

Summary:

"Ford begins with a brief history of U.S. urban development. He then explains his criteria for evaluating downtowns before proceeding with an on-the-street examination of the featured sixteen cities. Each is rated based on use of physical site, particularly for housing (unlike suburbs, Ford notes, most downtowns are located in challenging physical locales, such as harbors, rivers, hills, or peninsulas), street morphology, civic space, functional aspects (office space, retail stores, and convention centers), and the support districts in the fringe areas surrounding the downtown core. Ford concludes with a suggested model of downtown structure based upon the case studies and with a look at the possible effects of increasing globalization on the downtowns of the early twenty-first century. This book will appeal to those interested in urban studies, landscape studies, American studies, architecture, historic preservation and planning, and urban geography." "Larry R. Ford is a professor of geography at San Diego State University who has taught urban geography for thirty years."--Jacket.

Resources:
Table of contents
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description

ISBN:

0801871638 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
9780801871634 (hardcover ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Central business districts United States Case studies.
Urban renewal United States Case studies.
Centres-villes États-Unis Études de cas.
Rénovation urbaine États-Unis Études de cas.
Central business districts
Urban renewal
Innenstadt
Stadtsanierung
Städtebau
United States
USA

Form/genre:

Case studies
Études de cas.

Added entries:

Creating the North American landscape.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 228630
Call No.: HT167 .F6 2003
Status: Available