Accounts of breakdowns are tedious. Seen from a distance—historical, geographic, administrative, or emotional distance—they make succinct stories. But in close-up view, they consist of too many details, none sufficient in itself; the pieces make sense only when considered together. “Unwinding vicious spirals,” Dark Age Ahead (p152)

Jacobs masterfully weaves the story, pulling the thread through the many facts—the only way to unwind such interlocked problems to begin to understand the mistakes and misfortunes that sparked and spurred them on.

I’d already remarked on her storytelling skill concerning When Streetcars Ruled the Streets and pretty much any description of a system of organized complexity.

In “Unwinding vicious spirals,” she begins with the Great Depression, leading us down the rest of the 20th century spiral into worse homelessness and unaffordable housing. That prolem is interlocked with many others, of course.

I can’t do her summary narrative justice in a blog post. This is the one chapter, so far, that I will claim is a must read. It’s a must read.

Then again, I’m biased, because she’s taking to task some of the unscientific thought of the zoners in my profession, as I did earlier this month.

I’m one of those strange folk who enjoy working with (and reworking) zoning codes. Jacobs shies away from solutions that are pure abstraction, like densification or smart growth. It’s in the details. Zoning deals with some of these details, wrongly, based on three assumptions:

High ground coverages are bad.

High densities (numbers of people or numbers of households per acre) are bad.

The mingling of commercial or other work uses with residences is bad.

“Unwinding vicious spirals,” Dark Age Ahead (p153)

Based on these assumptions, we wound up governing land use primarily. That’s the “primary key” to borrow from database organization terminology, around which we organize our zoning districts. I’ve mentioned movements to put form in that spot with form-based zoning. I’ve worked on form-based zoning for small portions of Grandview Heights and Grove City, here in Central Ohio. I’m well aware of some of the strengths and drawbacks to such a solution.

Jacobs advocates organizing our code around performance with a strong form component - linked almost as a visual performance standard. I’m ready for that work when it comes. I’m ready to tell you all about it. I’m just not sure anyone’s ready to listen. Maybe soon…

Projecting forward is a bit more dangerous than connecting the threads of the past, but Jacobs identifies how the pressures on single-family homeowners to get something out of their greatest asset—their homes—may mirror the path of many farm families selling out to suburban sprawl. What this looks like: turning fallow parts of homes and lots into revenue generators: renting rooms, new structures on their lots, businesses in former residences, etc. So, so little of this is allowable today.