Table of Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xv
1 Our Surroundings, Ourselves 1
Why Places Profoundly Matter 2
Places Change Us in Fundamental Ways 8
2 A New Movement Based on Old Ideas 13
New Urbanism and Green Living 17
Active Design and Healthy Places 22
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design 24
3 Establishing Evidence 28
Causality and Place 31
Generalizability and Place 44
Levels of Evidence 51
Evidence Matters 53
4 Cities in Ruin 55
Evolution of Negative Housing 56
Degraded Housing, Public Safety, and Health 58
Rebuild or Escape? 62
Breathe-Easy Homes 65
Fixing Doors and Windows 70
Better Homes for Our Health and Safety and Addressing Gentrification 74
5 The Nature Cure 79
Crime-Fighting Trees 83
Philadelphia's Experiment with Greening 86
Seeing Green Space and Trees to Improve Health 93
Beetles That Kill Trees Are Bad for Our Health and Safety 96
Green Space and Our Health and Safety 99
6 Driving Ambivalence 101
Walking off the Pounds by Choosing the Train 104
Riding Light Rail in Charlotte to Lose Weight 106
More Walking in Los Angeles, Fewer Trips in Cars 110
Designing Out Cars to Reduce Crime 113
The LAPD's Operation Cul-De-Sac 114
Designing Out Cars to Promote Health and Safety 116
7 Good Clean Fun 118
Making Commercial Districts Safe 120
Business Improvement Districts Reduce Crime in Los Angeles 121
Making Parks Places for Physical Activity 127
Simple Signs Increase Physical Activity in Parks 134
Motivating People to Use Commercial and Recreational Spaces 136
8 Embracing Change 138
The Unintended Consequences of Positive Action 139
University City District Success Leads to Strain on Public School 140
Successful Figueroa BID Impacts Infrastructure and Housing Options 142
Light Rail Development Brings Boom to Neighborhood 145
The Impact of Changes to Places on Services 146
Epilogue: Where Next? 149
Notes 157
Index 183
