Book cover of A Green Place to Be: The Creation of Central Park

Book description

In 1858, New York City was growing so fast that new roads and tall buildings threatened to swallow up the remaining open space. The people needed a green place to be - a park with ponds to row on and paths for wandering through trees and over bridges. When a…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked A Green Place to Be as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Someone once referred to Central Park as the “lungs” of New York City. When the grid plan for the streets of Manhattan was designed it left little room for greenspace. Human beings need nature, and respite from the crowds, so a contest was held to design a park. Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted came up with the winning idea. This lushly illustrated book tells the story of how their Greensward Plan became Central Park— the first landscaped public park in the United States. I love to think about how the two designed the placement of every tree, bridge, and…

If you love A Green Place to Be...

Book cover of Unfathomable: 20 Wild (But True) Stories About the Ocean

Unfathomable by Mary Boone,

Did you know you can survive being swallowed by a whale? Or that octopus wrestling used to be an actual sport? Or, that once a town in Oregon didn't know what to do with a whale carcass that washed up on their beaches, so they...BLEW IT UP?

As strange as…

Want books like A Green Place to Be?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like A Green Place to Be.

Browse books like A Green Place to Be

Book cover of Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge
Book cover of Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood
Book cover of City Shapes

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

166

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like A Green Place to Be, you might also like...

Book cover of From Cells to Ourselves: The Story of Evolution

From Cells to Ourselves by Gill Arbuthnott,

4.5 billion years ago, Earth was forming - but nothing could have survived there…

From Cells to Ourselves is the incredible story of how life on earth started and how it gradually evolved from the first simple cells to the abundance of life around us today. Walk with dinosaurs, analyse…

Book cover of Scout and the Rescue Dogs

Scout and the Rescue Dogs by Dianne Wolfer,

The summer holidays have finally arrived and Scout can’t wait for her adventure in the big rig with Dad. They’re on a mission to deliver donations of dog food to animal rescue shelters right across the state. There’ll be dad-jokes, rock-collecting, and a brilliant plan that will make sure everyone’s…

5 book lists we think you will like!