Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage Political Science and Social Criticism. Vol. V-241.

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Part 2, Chapter 7 (The Generators of Diversity Summary) This chapter talked about how Cities are diverse in nature. In examining cities, one cannot consider the uses on a one-by-one basis. The uses are mixes and combinations and these mixtures and combinations are the reason for diversity. Cities need manufacturing establishments and commercial establishments in order to survive. For example, areas can only support so many restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, etc. until they become irrelevant. Yet on the contrary, cites can support more than one suburb generating a larger likelihood for a diverse community. Jacobs proposes four conditions that are necessary for the existence of diversity and I’ll go over the basis of those 4 conditions.

Part 2, Chapter 8 (The Need for Mixed Primary Uses Summary)The first condition is that the district has to have more than one purpose. The neighborhood people have to be in place to perform their numerous functions. As pointed out earlier, different people or a diverse community is absolutely necessary to be on the streets at different times. The parks require people doing different things at different times. Just as streets and parks need users, stores, and other commercial establishments need users and customers. Lower Manhattan is used as an example. During the lunch hour of the working day, the places are mobbed. Outside of working hours, there is no activity. To balance the time use they would have to find a way to attract customers to counteract their buys hours thus making more profit.

Part 2, Chapter 9 (The Need for Small Blocks Summary) The second factor required for successful city areas are small blocks with a lot of places where people can turn. If not, the street is isolated. This is the case with long blocks. Long blocks have no breaks in them. People are stranded when they uses areas with long blocks. Short blocks give people more choices, allow for more mingling, and result in more diversity. Long blocks are a barrier to use mixtures and diversity. People try to avoid areas that have long blocks. It is also a proven fact that people would rather walk outside than be forced into small corridors or tunnel systems much like my portage and main study.

Part 2, Chapter 10 (The Need for Aged Buildings Summary) The third condition touched on by Jacobs has to do with the surrounding building infrastructure. There must be a mixture of old and new buildings. New buildings represent construction costs, which are evidenced by the higher rents in the area. Old buildings represent lower rents. This mixture is desired for purposes of diversity, both primary and secondary. The mixture of old and new buildings then is an economic necessity. Certain neighborhoods that have this mixture are typically more successful than other neighborhoods

Part 2, Chapter 11 (The Need for Concentration Summary) Population density is another of Jacobs' success factors. This concentration includes visitors as well as residents. It’s under the misconception that high population densities in residential areas lead to slums, but this isn’t totally true. Jacobs discusses neighborhoods in various cities with comparable high population densities and finds that some are successful. Greenwich Village is quite successful while Roxbury is not. Quite a few city slum areas have low population densities as in Oakland, Cleveland, Detroit, and New York so they don’t reflect the assumed concentration results or in other words, overcrowding or higher concentration of people can occur in high-density areas or in low-density areas. Densities should ideally be at a level that promotes diversity.

Part 2, Chapter 12 (Myths About Diversity) Does diversity results in congestion? Cities end up fighting diversity through zoning regulations to reduce the congestion. They have lower class neighborhoods located in a selected part of the neighborhood while upper-classes are secluded from the rest and nowhere near low income housing. This ends up destroying that which makes the neighborhoods alive and vibrant. Diversity as we all know means that there are differences. This doesn’t only mean people but is also relative to old and new buildings. The mix of buildings or diverse structures may not always be the most appealing to look at, however, homogeneity would be boring and monotonous, or what Jacobs calls, the Great Blight of Dullness. People are familiar with this concept of monotony so in areas without diversity, they take actions to distinguish themselves and their belongings from those of others.