Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville by Witold Rybczynski Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville
Book Review: Excellent Overview
Summary: 4 Stars
A great book for anyone who has driven through the ex-urbs lately and wondered why and how suburban development is the way it is. A good primer for both the aspiring residential developer and the township board member.Book Review: Planning
Summary: 4 Stars
A design profession relief from the more informative norm that planning, landscape architecture, urban design, and architecture are represented by. Rybczynski presents, in a very storyteller-like way, the process from visioning to implementation to construction, and finally, the homeowner's first thoughts of their new home. It is rare to read accounts of this genre that keep you focused on how things will actually work out in the end: especially when thinking of the arduous process behind the finalization of land development projects. Although most of the book was explained with tremendous success towards transmitting the sequences involved in building communities, it would have given the reader a better perspective to see how the process was transformed and the plans that made all of the discourse worth it in the end.
Nevertheless, a great account told in honest fashion, and backed by historic and cultural facts that have shaped land development in the US.
Book Review: A 10-star book every housing consumer will relish
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a really really important book that unlocks dozens of mysteries of why we end up in the homes that we come to occupy and how communities are created from cornfields. In other hands, this could have been a tedious tract on housing economics and construction techniques, but the author is a masterful storyteller who thoroughly entranced me with an account of the birth of one modest housing development in the Philadelphia exurbs. Rybczynski clearly grasps that the essence of great drama is constant conflict, and, from nearly the first page to the last, he portrays the endless conflicts that pervade the homebuilding business: there's land developer versus the anti-development townspeople; the developer's vision of designing a pioneering new community versus the practical concern that consumers feel safer buying traditional homes; buyer versus builder in striking the deal; buyer's emotions versus buyer's practicality in concluding a home-buying decision; and so many more mini-dramas involving the dozens of other participants in the development process. As a long-time real estate professional, I learned a great deal from this book and would recommend it to everyone in the industry and to anyone who ever intends to buy a home, suburban, exurban, or even urban. It's a treasure chest of lore about the history of housing, mostly American, but also housing abroad.Book Review: Illuminating
Summary: 4 Stars
An informative trip through the local planning process that could have been that much more useful if illustrated with site plans and building elevations. Still highly recommended.Book Review: Interesting read
Summary: 4 Stars
Was an interesting read. I am on a local Planning Board, and this book gave the developers perspective on a real estate development. Clustered development is still a hot topic, and many local boards are not fully aware of the benefits and pitfalls.
The book is thorough, although it doesn't always portay local governments in their best light. Most local boards are elected volunteers that are trying to help their local communities.
Overall, a good read, and well worth the time invested.