I first bought this book back when it first came out in 1992. I've lent it out to numerous friends and acquaintances over the following years and it always provoked good discussions about what's important in how people make decisions about where they live and how location does and doesn't affect the fabric of your life.

Edge City looks at how suburbs are no longer just residential areas whose populations commute to the city to work and play, but have emerged as centers of employment and commerce in their own right. This will be familiar to anyone who has commuted down to a job in the quintessentially "Edge City" Silicon Valley. Each chapter looks at a different edge city and uses it to examine some of the issues that have cropped up in what Garreau argues is a new way of life. Although the subject urban planning could be a pretty slow read, Garreua's training as a journalist shows and his prose make an easy and enjoyable read.

Joel Garreau is a good story teller about life on the new suburban frontier. His writing style reminds me of Jane Jacobs and her classic "Death and Life of Great American Cities." While Jacobs' book helped to modify the discourse on central city urban development with her praise of mixed uses, the value of sidewalks, and face to face encounters with your neighbors, Garreau likewise stakes out some ground counter to conventional planning wisdom about the suburbs.

As a former city planner, I found Garreau's discussion of the new "downtowns" that are forming up on the suburban fringe and along certain freeways to provide a refreshingly candid look. He is essentially optimistic about a phenomena that is almost universally condemed by the professional planning and architecture community.

The book's final two chapters are worth the price alone. In "The Words" chapter the author defines in lighthearted terms some of the slang that is associated with edge city development: "Ooh-ah: An unusual Amenity inserted in a development specifically to elicit an animated reaction from a client. Commmercial Ooh-ahs include built in hair dryers in the mens room" In the chapter titled "the Laws" and includes such tidbits as: "The number of blocks an American will walk in most downtowns: Three, maybe four."

Overall a very readable and important book. In fact I use it as a text for a college class titled "The Built Environment" By reveiwing and discussing the "terms", "laws" and the players in nine "edge cities" around the country, the author does an amazing job clarifying what drives this sort of development and where it leading the future of American cities into the 21rst century. Jareau is basically optimistic, despite the boring warnings planners who warn of the impending collapse of civilization unless we abide by their dictates.

The Ugly, Nasty, Truth about the decline of the City, and the rise of the automobile as god!!! Very well written, and extremely informative. Never before have I questioned the disposable american lifestyle so much before! Buy this book if you are interested in developing, urban design, architecture, or just ever wonder "how to make a subway pay for itself out of the farebox..."

Twenty years ago I read Raymond Gastil's "Cultural Regions of the United States" and found it very interesting, so when I spotted the title of Garreau's book I bought it immediately, thinking that North America was an apter field for such researches than just the USA. No doubt, Garreau has some very interesting ideas. His choices for designating the nine nations are sound and appeal to the imagination as well. I was especially impressed with some of the conclusions he reached, back in the late '70s, (the book came out in 1981, so all the research was done prior to that). His view of south Florida and its connection to the Caribbean and South America proved extremely prescient given the events of 2000. The "MexAmerican" future of much of the Southwest is coming to pass. His predictions about the future of hi-tech in New England and environmental concerns in "Ecotopia" (northwest Pacific coast) also impress the reader of two decades on. But overall, I felt that THE NINE NATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA fell through the cracks. Garreau really never defines what he means by a "nation". Is it different from a "cultural region" ? What are the defining characteristics of other world nations that may resemble one or more of the North American "nations" ? Does the author find any similarities ? Are economic realities often the basis of nations ? [Looking at Africa I would say no.] Secondly, his interviews and researches are extraordinarily diffuse, amounting sometimes to an unbelievably scattershot approach, hoping to hit something valuable. Time and time again, I found myself wondering, "What does this have to do with defining a nation ?" A total amateur myself, who has never attempted any work of the sort, I still felt that I could have rounded up more evidence in support of my argument than Garreau did. The reader often loses sight of any argument at all. The author's style is eminently readable, pleasant, and entertaining. He obviously has a great sense of humor. Whether that is enough to carry a reader through 390 pages is up to you.

I write this review having read this book in the early 80's, and now trying to find it again to re-read. Although I only read it once, its premise has revisited me over and over again - the fact that our state, and yes, our national borders in North America are imaginary. I can say that from personal experience, what Joel Garreau wrote about the similarities of people and values within regions is not 100% accurate, but extremely close. Having come from Toronto and moving to suburban Detroit, I less culture shock had I made a similar move to Miami, or even Seattle or Vancouver. Places like Chicago and New York are far more familiar to me, being part of the "Foundry", as Garreau calls the north-central US and southern Ontario. I'm sure that many a sociologist may not agree with his conclusions, but they are observations made with the keen eye of a journalist. They are not bad ones, at that.

This book is a beautiful 'tour-de-force' of the socio-cultural patchwork we call North America. His insights are right on target and sometimes prescient (remember, he wrote this in 1980. Helpful for planning vacations, moves or pilgrimmages. A must for thoughtful people everywhere.