Robert Samuel Roche

A well-researched and well-organized book that covers the early history of Chicago, the historical context and development of the Plan of Chicago, other plans for the city that have since arisen, and a new plan by one of the authors that adapts earlier plans to current-day (2009) Chicago. While I found most of the historical material fascinating, a lot of the book was a little too abstract in how it related the facts of city planning. And when it got to the chapters discussing the author's show more new ideas for Chicago, it felt way too disconnected with the realities of how cities grow to be helpful or interesting to me as a reader.

The best parts of this book discuss the nitty gritty of the historical facts and the realities of how cities actually grow and develop, like the mix of public and private investment, eminent domain laws, centralized oversight, etc. Other parts of the book felt a bit too abstract and disconnected, but I still learned a lot from reading. show less