A review by sjgochenour
The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch

5.0

Perhaps the most readable book about city planning I have ever encountered. Both the style and the ideas are agreeably digestible; who doesn't like the idea that a differentiated, striking city makes it easier to get around? It must be said that for persons who have a painful longing for Boston in their gut, some of the very interesting conceptual framework will get swallowed in the enjoyment of reading detailed descriptions of the streets you also love. There's also something to be said for the interest of a critique written pre-Government Center and pre-Big Dig -- for all the latter's problems, the situation prior to its construction rendered the North End totally null in a unified urban analysis like this one.