Today, I continue the Series, “The Shape of a Town,” with a narration of Essay 1.

Postwar America successfully solved for housing production at scale. But in doing so, it abandoned the deeper discipline of town-making, replacing integrated, center-oriented communities with fragmented subdivisions defined by separated uses, car dependence, and the absence of a true civic heart. Historically, towns were organized around shared centers that enabled natural, repeated human interaction. But modern development prioritizes speed, financing, and efficiency over identity, cohesion, and long-term place-making, resulting in environments where economic activity disperses, social trust weakens, civic life fades, and infrastructure costs rise. Not as accidental outcomes, but as the predictable consequence of a system driven by fragmented governance, misaligned incentives, and a lack of unifying vision, leaving us with functional but disconnected landscapes and forcing a more fundamental question: not how to improve subdivisions, but how to once again design towns as intentional systems of relationships that foster belonging, continuity, and life.

Taking a cue from the real world, I am now offering a narrated version of select Essays. Podcasts and audiobooks are consumed more than books and posts are read.

Enjoy,B

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