Essays on Robert Moses

Jane Jacob wrote the book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities in 1961 at a time when most of the American cities were overwhelmed with immense development projects. The book provides Jacob’s opinion on what makes these cities work as well as a critique of modern planning theory. This book can be considered to bear dual significance. While on one end the book is specific in offering critique of the urban planning, it is general since it lies in the degree to which Jacob calls into question the concepts of central planning and bureaucratic expertise concepts. Specifically on ...

New York City has inspired numerous individuals to try to describe and define what makes it unique. Some of those individuals have developed very different visions of New York City. Author Anthony Flint examines some of those differing visions in his book, Wrestling With Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City. Walt Whitman, Robert Moses, and Jane Jacobs each regarded the city as a wonderful and uniquely American city. Their differing visions of the city reflect their personal perspective of what makes New York City desirable, whether it be the bustle ...

The concept of the Victorian seaside resort which took off in popularity in the latter half of the 19th century reached the United States at the turn of the last century. When one mentiones Coney Island, ideas immediately spring to mind with packed beaches, carousels, fun parks and vast hotels which are now quite a thing of the past. However in its heyday, Coney Island was definitely the place to be for a holiday and the vast millions who flocked their certainly partook of the excitement of a holiday which was perhaps something totally new to them.

Coney Island and its development

One can say that the ...