John Nolen (1927 /2005) New Towns For Old: Achievements In Civic Improvement In Some American Small Towns And Neighborhoods. University of Massachusetts Press.
«John Nolen (1869-1937) was a pioneer in the development of professional town and city planning in the United States. Nolen's comprehensive approach merged the social, economic, and physical aspects of planning while emphasizing, in the author's words, "versatility, special knowledge, and cooperation." Between 1905 and 1937, Nolen's firm, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, completed more than 350 commissions throughout the United States. Among the best known of these is Mariemont, Ohio, whose development Nolen directed from the ground up. "New Towns for Old" (1927) is still of great interest to planners and urban historians. The well-illustrated study contains an overview of the development of American urbanism and a concise discussion of Nolen's ideas for the improvement of towns and cities. Individual chapters examine a variety of towns planned by Nolen including Mariemont, Ohio; Kingsport, Tennessee; and Kistler, Pennsylvania, as well as the new suburbs of Union Park Gardens in Wilmington, Delaware, and Myers Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. The re-planned towns of Cohasset and Walpole, Massachusetts, are also featured. The forward-looking final chapter includes material on Venice, Florida, one of Nolen's most ambitious projects. A new introductory essay by Charles D. Warren, which presents biographical and historical context that illuminates the diverse, productive career of this nationally significant practitioner. Perhaps most significantly, it features Nolen's project list, which has never before been published. "Nolen . . . sought to realize the dreams and eliminate the nightmares he saw woven into the fabric of American cities, towns, and villages," writes Warren in his introduction. "His idea of reform was pragmatic, accommodating plans to realities without losing sight of temporarily elusive ideals. His successes and failures are recorded in the landscapes and the cityscapes he left behind."» (Source: publisher)
