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Carmageddon
- How Cars Make Life Worse and What to Do About It
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
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Carmageddon
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Publisher's summary
A high-octane polemic against cars—which are ruining the world, while making us unhappy and unhealthy—from a talented young writer at the Economist
The automobile was one of the most miraculous inventions of the 20th century. It promised freedom, style, and utility. But sometimes, rather than improving our lives technology just makes everything worse. Over the past century cars have filled the air with toxic pollutants and fueled climate change. Cars have stolen public space and made our cities uglier, dirtier, less useful, and more unequal. Cars have caused tens of millions of deaths and injuries. They have wasted our time and our money.
In Carmageddon, journalist Daniel Knowles outlines the rise of the automobile and the costs we all bear as a result. Weaving together history, economics, and reportage, Knowles traces the forces and decisions that normalized cars and cemented our reliance on them. He takes listeners around the world to show the ways car use has impacted people’s lives—from Nairobi, where few people own a car but the city is still cloaked in smog, to Houston, where the Katy Freeway has a mind-boggling 26 lanes and there are 30 parking spaces for every resident, enough land to fit Paris ten times. With these negatives, Knowles shows that there are better ways to live, looking at Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Tokyo, and New York City.
CARMAGEDDON features original reporting from:
Chicago
Detroit
Houston
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
New York
Paris, France
Mumbai, India
Nairobi, Kenya
Tokyo, Japan
London, Birmingham, and Coventry, England
CARMAGEDDON also covers:
Atlanta
Cincinnati
Louisville
Memphis
St Louis
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Copenhagen, Denmark
Lagos, Nigeria
Sao Paolo, Brazil
Singapore
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 116
With wit and sharp insight, former Traffic Commissioner of New York City, Sam Schwartz a.k.a. "Gridlock Sam", one of the most respected transportation engineers in the world and consummate insider in NYC political circles, uncovers how American cities became so beholden to cars and why the current shift away from that trend will forever alter America's urban landscapes, marking nothing short of a revolution in how we get from place to place.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting, thought provoking, and hopeful
- By JKuster on 03-07-20
By: Samuel I. Schwartz, and others
-
Walkable City
- How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
- By: Jeff Speck
- Narrated by: Jeff Speck
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 973
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 855
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 846
Jeff Speck has dedicated his career to determining what makes cities thrive. And he has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. The very idea of a modern metropolis evokes visions of bustling sidewalks, vital mass transit, and a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban core. But in the typical American city, the car is still king, and downtown is a place that’s easy to drive to but often not worth arriving at. Making walkability happen is relatively easy and cheap; seeing exactly what needs to be done is the trick.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting topic and thoughtful insight, subpar recording.
- By Andrew Nicks on 05-12-18
By: Jeff Speck
-
Green Metropolis
- What the City Can Teach the Country About True Sustainability
- By: David Owen
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
In this remarkable challenge to conventional thinking about the environment, David Owen argues that the greenest community in the United States is not Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York City.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A stupid and dangerously short sighted view
- By Gare&Sophia on 11-13-12
By: David Owen
-
Triumph of the City
- How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier
- By: Edward Glaeser
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 422
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 349
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 344
America is an urban nation. More than two thirds of us live on the three percent of land that contains our cities. Yet cities get a bad rap: they're dirty, poor, unhealthy, crime ridden, expensive, environmentally unfriendly. Or are they? As Edward Glaeser proves in this myth-shattering book, cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (in cultural and economic terms) places to live.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Urbanophile Brain Candy
- By Clay Downing on 12-18-15
By: Edward Glaeser
-
The End of the Suburbs
- Where the American Dream is Moving
- By: Leigh Gallagher
- Narrated by: Jessica Geffen
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 63
For nearly 70 years, the suburbs were as American as apple pie. But in recent years things have started to change. An epic housing crisis revealed existing problems with this unique pattern of development, while the steady pull of long-simmering economic, societal and demographic forces has culminated in a Perfect Storm that has led to a profound shift in the way we desire to live. In The End of the Suburbs journalist Leigh Gallagher traces the rise and fall of American suburbia from the stately railroad suburbs that sprung up outside American cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries to current-day sprawling exurbs.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Informative, but the title is a lie
- By Marie on 08-27-13
By: Leigh Gallagher
-
Happy City
- Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
- By: Charles Montgomery
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 373
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 335
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 335
After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and tower dwelling improvements on the car dependence of sprawl?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great book-terrible narrator
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-19
-
The Great Reset
- How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity
- By: Richard Florida
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 78
We tend to view prolonged economic downturns, such as the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Long Depression of the late 19th century, in terms of the crisis and pain they cause. But history teaches us that these great crises also represent opportunities to remake our economy and society and to generate whole new eras of economic growth and prosperity.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
glorification of City Life
- By Ryan Riggs on 11-25-20
By: Richard Florida
-
Crabgrass Frontier
- The Suburbanization of the United States
- By: Kenneth T. Jackson
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
This first full-scale history of the development of the American suburb examines how "the good life" in America came to be equated with the a home of one's own surrounded by a grassy yard and located far from the urban workplace. Integrating social history with economic and architectural analysis, and taking into account such factors as the availability of cheap land, inexpensive building methods, and rapid transportation, Kenneth Jackson chronicles the phenomenal growth of the American suburb from the middle of the 19th century to the present day.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
There is so much to think about here.
- By Richard McKown on 06-25-23
-
Sun, Sin, Suburbia
- The History of Modern Las Vegas Revised and Expanded
- By: Geoff Schumacher
- Narrated by: Douglas R. Pratt
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Las Vegas is gambling's mecca - Sin City the Entertainment Capital of the World with 40 million visitors a year. But that's just part of the story. This carefully documented history tracks the rise of Las Vegas from its vital role in World War II, of the Rat Pack era of the 50s, the explosive growth of the 90s, and it's colossal collapse in the post 2008 real-estate crash. It offers a history of the iconic Strip, but also profiles the neighborhoods where over 2 million people live.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good History of Vegas - old, modern and mundane
- By Amazon Customer on 06-13-14
By: Geoff Schumacher
-
The Undercover Economist
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 538
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 324
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 322
Author of the extremely popular "Dear Economist" column in Financial Times, Tim Harford reveals the economics behind everyday phenomena in this highly entertaining and informative book. Can a book about economics be fun to read? It can when Harford takes the reins, using his trademark wit to explain why it costs an arm and a leg to buy a cappuccino and why it's nearly impossible to purchase a decent used car.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Everyone needs to know this.
- By Paul Norwood on 04-24-06
By: Tim Harford
-
The Road Taken
- The History and Future of America's Infrastructure
- By: Henry Petroski
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
Physical infrastructure in the United States is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers has, in its latest report, given American roads and bridges a grade of D and C+, respectively, and has described roughly 65,000 bridges in the United States as 'structurally deficient'. This crisis - and one need look no further than the I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota to see that it is indeed a crisis - shows little sign of abating short of a massive change in attitude amongst politicians and the American public.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well put
- By Lawrence on 08-10-17
By: Henry Petroski
-
It's Better Than It Looks
- By: Gregg Easterbrook
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
Most people who pay attention to the news would tell you that 2017 is one of the worst years in recent memory. We're facing a series of deeply troubling, even existential problems: fascism, terrorism, environmental collapse, racial and economic inequality, and more. Yet this narrative misses something important: by almost every meaningful measure, the modern world is better than it ever has been. In the United States, disease, crime, discrimination, and most forms of pollution are in long-term decline, while longevity and education keep rising.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too political
- By Anonymous User on 07-12-18
-
How to Kill a City
- Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood
- By: Peter Moskowitz
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 258
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 227
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 223
The term gentrification has become a buzzword to describe the changes in urban neighborhoods across the country, but we don't realize just how threatening it is. It means more than the arrival of trendy shops, much-maligned hipsters, and expensive lattes. The very future of American cities as vibrant, equitable spaces hangs in the balance. How to Kill a City takes listeners from the kitchen tables of hurting families who can no longer afford their homes to the corporate boardrooms and political backrooms where destructive housing policies are devised.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Unproductive criticism.
- By Aaron Rogers on 06-01-18
By: Peter Moskowitz
-
The 99% Invisible City
- A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
- By: Kurt Kohlstedt, Roman Mars
- Narrated by: Roman Mars
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 591
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 488
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 488
99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The 99% Invisible City
- By Louise Schraa on 01-09-21
By: Kurt Kohlstedt, and others
-
Divided Highways
- Building the Interstate Highways, Transforming American Life
- By: Tom Lewis
- Narrated by: Jim D. Johnston
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
In Divided Highways, Tom Lewis offers an encompassing account of highway development in the United States. In the early twentieth century Congress created the Bureau of Public Roads to improve roads and the lives of rural Americans. The Bureau was the forerunner of the Interstate Highway System of 1956, which promoted a technocratic approach to modern road building sometimes at the expense of individual lives, regional characteristics, and the landscape.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Lots of interesting facts. Poor narration
- By Richard Joyce on 06-01-21
By: Tom Lewis
-
China, Inc.
- By: Ted C. Fishman
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 315
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 75
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 78
China today is visible everywhere: In the news, in the economic pressures battering America, in the workplace, and in every trip to the store. Provocative, timely, and essential, this dramatic account of China's growing dominance as an industrial super-power by journalist Ted C. Fishman explains how the profound shift in the global economic order has occurred, and why it already affects us all.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Just read the Amazon reviews befor buying it ...
- By Dan on 08-10-05
By: Ted C. Fishman
-
The Big Roads
- The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways
- By: Earl Swift
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 166
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 147
From author Earl Swift comes the surprising history of the U.S. interstate system, a fascinating route through the dreams, discoveries, and protests that shaped these mighty roads.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Lessons from The Big Roads
- By Joshua Kim on 05-06-12
By: Earl Swift
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- How Parking Explains the World
- By: Henry Grabar
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Parking, quite literally, has a death grip on America: each year a handful of Americans are tragically killed by their fellow citizens over parking spots. But even when we don’t resort to violence, we routinely do ridiculous things for parking, contorting our professional, social, and financial lives to get a spot. Indeed, in the century since the advent of the car, we have deformed—and in some cases demolished—our homes and our cities in a Sisyphean quest for cheap and convenient car storage.
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Would recommend
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The arbitrary lines of zoning maps across the country have come to dictate where Americans may live and work, forcing cities into a pattern of growth that is segregated and sprawling. The good news is that reform is in the air, with states across the country critically reevaluating zoning. In cities as diverse as Minneapolis, Fayetteville, and Hartford, the key pillars of zoning are under fire, with apartment bans being scrapped, minimum lot sizes dropping, and off-street parking requirements disappearing altogether.
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5 out of 5 stars
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End Zoning
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Streetfight
- Handbook for an Urban Revolution
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 15
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
As New York City's transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan managed the seemingly impossible and transformed the streets of one of the world's greatest, toughest cities into dynamic spaces safe for pedestrians and bikers. Her approach was dramatic and effective: Simply painting a part of the street to make it into a plaza or bus lane not only made the street safer, but it also lessened congestion and increased foot traffic, which improved the bottom line of businesses.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Is road design interesting now?
- By Jacob on 05-19-23
By: Janette Sadik-Khan, and others
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Walkable City
- How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
- By: Jeff Speck
- Narrated by: Jeff Speck
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 973
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 855
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 846
Jeff Speck has dedicated his career to determining what makes cities thrive. And he has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. The very idea of a modern metropolis evokes visions of bustling sidewalks, vital mass transit, and a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban core. But in the typical American city, the car is still king, and downtown is a place that’s easy to drive to but often not worth arriving at. Making walkability happen is relatively easy and cheap; seeing exactly what needs to be done is the trick.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting topic and thoughtful insight, subpar recording.
- By Andrew Nicks on 05-12-18
By: Jeff Speck
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Street Smart
- The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars
- By: Samuel I. Schwartz, William Rosen - contributor
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 129
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 116
With wit and sharp insight, former Traffic Commissioner of New York City, Sam Schwartz a.k.a. "Gridlock Sam", one of the most respected transportation engineers in the world and consummate insider in NYC political circles, uncovers how American cities became so beholden to cars and why the current shift away from that trend will forever alter America's urban landscapes, marking nothing short of a revolution in how we get from place to place.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Interesting, thought provoking, and hopeful
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How to Kill a City
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 258
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 227
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 223
The term gentrification has become a buzzword to describe the changes in urban neighborhoods across the country, but we don't realize just how threatening it is. It means more than the arrival of trendy shops, much-maligned hipsters, and expensive lattes. The very future of American cities as vibrant, equitable spaces hangs in the balance. How to Kill a City takes listeners from the kitchen tables of hurting families who can no longer afford their homes to the corporate boardrooms and political backrooms where destructive housing policies are devised.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Unproductive criticism.
- By Aaron Rogers on 06-01-18
By: Peter Moskowitz
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Paved Paradise
- How Parking Explains the World
- By: Henry Grabar
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
Parking, quite literally, has a death grip on America: each year a handful of Americans are tragically killed by their fellow citizens over parking spots. But even when we don’t resort to violence, we routinely do ridiculous things for parking, contorting our professional, social, and financial lives to get a spot. Indeed, in the century since the advent of the car, we have deformed—and in some cases demolished—our homes and our cities in a Sisyphean quest for cheap and convenient car storage.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Would recommend
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Arbitrary Lines
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
The arbitrary lines of zoning maps across the country have come to dictate where Americans may live and work, forcing cities into a pattern of growth that is segregated and sprawling. The good news is that reform is in the air, with states across the country critically reevaluating zoning. In cities as diverse as Minneapolis, Fayetteville, and Hartford, the key pillars of zoning are under fire, with apartment bans being scrapped, minimum lot sizes dropping, and off-street parking requirements disappearing altogether.
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5 out of 5 stars
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End Zoning
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Streetfight
- Handbook for an Urban Revolution
- By: Janette Sadik-Khan, Seth Solomonow
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
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- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 15
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
As New York City's transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan managed the seemingly impossible and transformed the streets of one of the world's greatest, toughest cities into dynamic spaces safe for pedestrians and bikers. Her approach was dramatic and effective: Simply painting a part of the street to make it into a plaza or bus lane not only made the street safer, but it also lessened congestion and increased foot traffic, which improved the bottom line of businesses.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Is road design interesting now?
- By Jacob on 05-19-23
By: Janette Sadik-Khan, and others
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Walkable City
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 973
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 855
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Jeff Speck has dedicated his career to determining what makes cities thrive. And he has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. The very idea of a modern metropolis evokes visions of bustling sidewalks, vital mass transit, and a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban core. But in the typical American city, the car is still king, and downtown is a place that’s easy to drive to but often not worth arriving at. Making walkability happen is relatively easy and cheap; seeing exactly what needs to be done is the trick.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting topic and thoughtful insight, subpar recording.
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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With wit and sharp insight, former Traffic Commissioner of New York City, Sam Schwartz a.k.a. "Gridlock Sam", one of the most respected transportation engineers in the world and consummate insider in NYC political circles, uncovers how American cities became so beholden to cars and why the current shift away from that trend will forever alter America's urban landscapes, marking nothing short of a revolution in how we get from place to place.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Interesting, thought provoking, and hopeful
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How to Kill a City
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 227
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The term gentrification has become a buzzword to describe the changes in urban neighborhoods across the country, but we don't realize just how threatening it is. It means more than the arrival of trendy shops, much-maligned hipsters, and expensive lattes. The very future of American cities as vibrant, equitable spaces hangs in the balance. How to Kill a City takes listeners from the kitchen tables of hurting families who can no longer afford their homes to the corporate boardrooms and political backrooms where destructive housing policies are devised.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Unproductive criticism.
- By Aaron Rogers on 06-01-18
By: Peter Moskowitz
-
The 99% Invisible City
- A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
- By: Kurt Kohlstedt, Roman Mars
- Narrated by: Roman Mars
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 591
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 488
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 488
99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The 99% Invisible City
- By Louise Schraa on 01-09-21
By: Kurt Kohlstedt, and others
-
Fixer-Upper
- How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems
- By: Jenny Schuetz
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Much ink has been spilled in recent years talking about political divides and inequality in the United States. But these discussions too often miss one of the most important factors in the divisions among Americans: the fundamentally unequal nature of the nation's housing systems. Increasingly, important life outcomes—performance in school, employment, even life expectancy—are determined by where people live and the quality of homes they live in. Fixer-Upper is the first book assessing how local, state, and national housing policies affect people and communities.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good review
- By A. F. Davis on 09-16-22
By: Jenny Schuetz
-
Palaces for the People
- How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
- By: Eric Klinenberg
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 246
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 189
In Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg suggests a way forward. He believes that the future of democratic societies rests not simply on shared values but on shared spaces: the libraries, synagogues, and parks where crucial, sometimes life-saving connections, are formed. These are places where people gather, making friends across group lines and strengthening the entire community. Klinenberg calls this the “social infrastructure”: When it is strong, neighborhoods flourish; when it is neglected, as it has been in recent years, families and individuals must fend for themselves.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Okayyy
- By K on 04-11-19
By: Eric Klinenberg
-
Happy City
- Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
- By: Charles Montgomery
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 373
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 335
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 335
After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and tower dwelling improvements on the car dependence of sprawl?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great book-terrible narrator
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-19
-
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
- 50th Anniversary Edition
- By: Jane Jacobs, Jason Epstein - introduction
- Narrated by: Donna Rawlins
- Length: 18 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 673
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 560
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 552
Thirty years after its publication, The Death and Life of Great American Cities was described by The New York Times as "perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning....[It] can also be seen in a much larger context. It is first of all a work of literature; the descriptions of street life as a kind of ballet and the bitingly satiric account of traditional planning theory can still be read for pleasure even by those who long ago absorbed and appropriated the book's arguments."
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic text, dull on audio
- By Meghan on 02-13-15
By: Jane Jacobs, and others
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Excluded
- How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don't See
- By: Richard D. Kahlenberg
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story5 out of 5 stars 7
The last acceptable form of prejudice in America is based on class and executed through state-sponsored economic discrimination. While the American meritocracy officially denounces prejudice based on race and gender, it has spawned a new form of bias against those with less education and income. Millions of working-class Americans have their opportunity blocked by exclusionary snob zoning. These government policies make housing unaffordable, frustrate the goals of the civil rights movement, and lock in inequality in our urban and suburban landscapes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Everyone should read
- By P Willis on 09-17-23
What listeners say about Carmageddon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Erica
- 08-22-23
Riveting
This is a great book. He weaves in behavioral economics, economic and social history, and the quirks of consumer behavior. Good luck, Houston! Glad I live in an Eastern city!
I thought the whole book was great. Highly recommended
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Colin Briskey
- 01-15-24
Quick Paced, mindful of biases
Good performance from the voice actor and a well paced, conversational, informational read. The author acknowledges his biases.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Daniel Mokrauer-Madden
- 04-28-23
The second half is worthwhile
but the first half was an excruciating slog. I would recommend the book if I were pressed, I guess.
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