To Beaver neighborhoods of the past and a return to what many consider a more livable community. In this ideal setting, kids can walk to school and the playground, and adults can walk to shops, supermarket, restaurants, and the movies.
Mass transit is available and home-based businesses are encouraged.
Writers such as James Howard Kunstler and Philip Langdon are also advocating a return to pre-World War II communities. Langdon feels that the increased interaction among the citizens results in a safer and friendlier place to live. He recommends mixing housing with nonresidential buildings, reducing the size of lawns and doing away with building setback minimums. His 1988 book, A Better Place to Live , has been re-released as a paperback by University of Massachusetts Press in September 1997. Its chief characteristics are the strict separation of human activities, mandatory driving to get from one activity to another, and huge supplies of free parking.