James Howard Kunstler

Urbanist, Long Emergency writer http://www.kunstler.com/

finally using blog http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/

books - City In Mind ISBN:0743227239, Home From Nowhere ISBN:0684837374, Geography Of Nowhere ISBN:0671888250, etc.

in City In Mind he declares Boston Ma to be possibly the most promising American city for the 21st century, but he doesn't provide much useful direction for copying its lessons:

  • he gives lots of credit to MichaelDukakis for updating the Mass Transit system, particularly to serve the outer areas (which seems like it would encourage Commute-ing from the 'burbs?)
  • he gives credit to the booming economy and Defense Spending, noting how much the local economy crashed harder than the rest of the country
  • but concludes that somehow it re-spread the idea of making a city livable

Writes about NYC in Home From Nowhere

  • Born/raised in NYC, except for a couple years in Long Island
  • left for college and never returned (to live)
  • Though I have lived in a classic Main Street town nearly two decades now, I am always impressed at how much better Manhattan actually functions as a pedestrian village. (Urban Village)

lives in upstate NY - Saratoga Ny - writes online newsletter about it

supports the New Urbanism movement

believes the whole Edge City/SUV/Monoculture is dependent on Cheap Oil

believes: see Long Emergency

believes that people who don't do anything to change our Cheap Oil dependence shouldn't pretend to be horrified at War On Iraq


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