Another City: Urban Life and Urban Spaces in the New American Republic

by Dell Upton

An exploration of the beliefs, perceptions, and theories that shaped the architecture and organization of America’s earliest cities

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, burgeoning American cities like New Orleans and Philadelphia seemed increasingly chaotic. Noise, odors, and a feverish level of activity on the streets threatened to overwhelm the senses. Growing populations placed new demands on every aspect of the urban landscape—streets, parks, schools, asylums, cemeteries, markets, waterfronts, and more. In this unique exploration of the early history of urban architecture and design, leading architectural historian Dell Upton reveals the fascinating confluence of sociological, cultural, and psychological factors that shaped American cities in the antebellum years. Through contemporary travel accounts, diaries, and correspondence, as well as maps, architectural drawings, paintings, and prints—many previously unpublished--Upton investigates not only how buildings were designed, streets were laid out, and urban space was put to use, but also why . He offers original insights into the way cities were imagined, and an extensive selection of illustrations recreates the various features of the urban landscape in the nineteenth century.

Genres: Cities, History, Urban, Architecture, Nonfiction, Urban Planning

395 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 2008

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have just been a cool book filled with great anecdotes and rare illustrations. There are fascinating chapters on the evolution of the rural cemetery movement, on the battle over public access to the New Orleans waterfront, and on the attempts to regulate public smoking (an issue that has revivified only today). Unfortunately Upton decided to spice up his research with lots of "insights" from anthropology and critical theory. After almost all of the stories he spends pages digressing on the neologisms and buzzwords of every liberal arts study in an attempt to make it inter-disciplinary.

And since historians feel the need to justify every otherwise good piece of work with an unnecessary theme, Upton discovers the ever elusive and insubstantial movement towards "social control" and "rationalization" in each debate. People were trying to do things rationally! The bastards! They tried to control public spitting! The nerve!

Being published just last year, this book also shows how tired these themes have become for historians, and how irrelevant to contemporary debates.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Explores urban life in the United States between end of the Revolution and the start of the Civil War. He focuses mostly on Philadelphia and New Orleans with some reference to New York and Boston. The quality of the research is very good. The quality of the book as an artifact is incredible. Published by Yale with high quality paper and illustrations.