Table of Contents
Introduction: Making Change Now
Sell Walkability
Mix the Uses
Make Housing Attainable
Escape Automobilism
Get the Parking Right
Let Transit Work
Start with Safety
Optimize Your Driving Network
Right-Size the Number of Lanes
Right-Size the Lanes
Invite Biking
Park On-Street
Don’t Forget Geometry
Fix Your Signals and Signs
Make Great Sidewalks
Make Comfortable Spaces
Make Sticky Edges
Do It Now

About the Author

Jeff Speck is a city planner and urban designer who, through writing, lectures, and built work, advocates internationally for more walkable cities. As Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts, he oversaw the Mayors' Institute on City Design and created the Governors' Institute on Community Design. Prior to joining the endowment, Speck spent ten years as Director of Town Planning at DPZ and Co., the principal firm behind the New Urbanism movement. He is author of Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time and the co-author of Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream as well as The Smart Growth Manual.

Suburban Nation was called "the bible of urbanists," by the Wall Street Journal." The Christian Science Monitor called Walkable City "timely and important, a delightful, insightful, irreverent work," and "required reading." Jeff Speck's TED talks and other videos have been viewed more than three million times. With Walkable City Rules, he can be expected to cement his role as the most listened-to city planner in America.

Reviews

"Has there ever been a smarter, more illuminating, jargon-free, and deeply useful guide to making more sociable, healthy, prosperous, charming neighborhoods, towns, and cities? Every local leader and every engaged local citizen owes it to themselves to read Walkable City Rules."--Kurt Andersen, author of "Fantasyland" and host of public radio's "Studio 360"

"If you want to make your city safer, healthier, greener, wealthier, and more equitable, then you need to make it more walkable. Walkable City Rules is a must-read for urbanists, city-builders, and everyone who lives in cities."--Richard Florida, author of "Rise of the Creative Class"

"Jeff Speck is a total rock star to me. He is a great planner, but his real gift is empowering people to reshape their own communities. There is a huge wave of us out there saying, 'Yes, I DO want to make my town more livable, walkable, equal, and fun.' Walkable City Rules is THE super-user-friendly resource to help us spring into action, wherever we are."--Dar Williams, singer-songwriter and author of "What I Found in a Thousand Towns"

"What a tour de force! The world needs this book so much right now. Walkable City Rules is sure to change the face of neighborhoods, towns, and cities around this country and beyond."--Sarah Susanka, architect and author of "The Not So Big House" series and "The Not So Big Life"

"Walkable City Rules is a good primer for planning officials and elected officials, especially those inclined to support walkable urbanism. It is also written in a way to find appeal even among skeptics and status quo supporters."-- "Journal of the American Planning Association"

"Filled with the photos, graphics, and charts that many of his fans felt were missing from the last book, the new volume comprises 1010 mini-chapters, each of which elegantly distills a single precept from his philosophy."-- "NRDC's OnEarth"

"America's car-focused evolution has accelerated epidemics of injury, inactivity, depression, and isolation. We must transform disease-promoting places into ones that are human- and health-friendly. Speck confronts this task and makes acrobatic what could be pedantic. He writes with humor and verve, but with substance from deep experience. A beautiful book, with superb organization, layout, photos, and writing, Walkable City Rules should be assigned reading for every elected official and every health and planning class in America."--Richard Jackson, Former Director, CDC National Center for Environmental Health

"In Walkable City, Jeff Speck outlined the many compelling social, economic, and environmental benefits that come from designing our communities for people rather than cars. With Walkable City Rules, he translates those principles into a concrete plan of action. From zoning changes to public transit investments and road repurposing to saving existing small-scale fabric, this timely and necessary book offers clear, concise, and step-by-step instructions for urban planners and leaders to transform neighborhoods for the better and reimagine their cities at a human scale."--Stephanie Meeks, President and CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation

"With Walkable City, Jeff Speck demonstrated that he is the most relevant writer and thinker of his generation on the subject of city planning. With his new book, Walkable City Rules, he establishes himself as the most helpful. There is no single document poised to have a greater positive impact on our communities and on the practice of urban planning than this comprehensive and engaging text."--Ron Bogle, President and CEO, The American Architectural Foundation

"Walkable City Rules is worth reading even for those of us who will never set foot in a planner's office. Like Walkable City, this book explains how a variety of laws and rules frustrate the person who wishes to get from one place to another on foot. But to a much greater extent than most books about walkability, this book tells readers what can be done to improve upon the status quo."-- "Planetizen"

"The book fairly explodes with practical and pragmatic ideas that civic communities, town planners, and especially the resident citizen should consider for the improvement and enhancement of their locale."-- "Seattle Book Review"