Part II: Perspectives on Urban Form and Design Summary and Analysis

In "The Almost Perfect Town" (1952), John Brinckerhoff Jackson describes Optimo City, an imaginary American town. The editors describe his view of this Southwestern city as "semimythical." Jackson talks about the town's history, how it once was the site of a fort and an encounter with Indians. In the 1870s, the city was surveyed and laid out, with the courthouse at the center and a gridiron built up around it. Downtown Optimo City has both slums and factories on South Main Street, while on North Main Street there is wealth and fashionable residences. East and west, there are stores, frame houses, and little sidewalks. Jackson describes a typical Saturday night, with residents hanging out at drugstores, cafés, and the movies. He describes the courthouse and the government...