Why read The Greatest Grid?

Book cover of The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011

Book description

Laying out Manhattan's street grid and providing a rationale for the growth of New York was the city's first great civic enterprise, not to mention a brazenly ambitious project and major milestone in the history of city planning. The grid created the physical conditions for business and society to flourish…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Greatest Grid as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Lynne B. Sagalyn

Author

Time and time again, I refer to this book because it is chock full of fascinating history about New York told in an unusual way.

Packed with beautifully reproduced photos on every page, it takes as its subject the seemingly dull characteristic of urban experience—the street grid—and fashions over 200 short succinct stories of people, politics, and real estate development. It’s a bravo book.

From Lynne's list on exciting a passion for understanding cities.