Superbia!: Thirty-One Ways to Create Sustainable Neighborhoods

Superbia! 31 Ways to Create Sustainable Neighborhoods is book of practical possibilities. It contains 31 innovative ways citizens, working cooperatively with their neighbors, can transform their neighborhoods — both urban and suburban — to create a greater sense of community, closeness, and interdependence; save money; live more comfortably, save time; reduce stress; and live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

The only book that shows how to transform existing suburbs to create environment- and people-friendly neighborhoods...

Superbia!is a book of practical ideas for creating more socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable neighborhoods. It is about remaking suburban and urban neighborhoods to serve people better and to reduce human impact on the environment.

The authors first trace the history of the suburbs, showing how they fail to meet many peoples'needs. They then describe how existing neighborhoods can be transformed, offering cohousing and new urbanist communities as examples. The reader is then guided through the transformation of a fictitious neighborhood that adopts the authors'thirty-one steps. Ideas for the blossoming of the suburb are described in order of difficulty, from easy to boldest, including:

the creation of a neighborhood newsletter to foster a sense of neighborhood identity and cooperation

regular community dinners, discussion groups, and baby-sitting co-ops

the removal of backyard fences to create park-like spaces for community play areas, or gardens

retrofitting homes for energy efficiency, and installing community energy systems.

Examples from all over North America and beyond provide real-life proof that citizen planners can create Superbia! And the most comprehensive resource listing imaginable puts all the tools needed at your fingertips.

Well-illustrated and reader-friendly, Superbia!is written primarily for the millions who live in urban areas or existing suburbs. It will also be of major interest to environmentalists, planners, and all who want to create a more humane and nurturing lifestyle.

Dan Chirasis the author of nineteen books including The Natural Plaster Book(New Society Publishers, 2003) and over 200 articles, a contributing editor to Mother Earth News, and an adjunct professor at Colorado College.

Dave Wannhas produced six video programs on community, is coauthor of Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemicand two other books about design. Both live in Colorado.

Dan Chiras is a writer, consultant, educator, author of 19 books and 200+ articles, a contributing editor and advisor to Mother Earth News; an adjunct professor at two universities in Denver; and currently teaches courses on ecological design and renewable energy at Colorado College. Dave Wann worked with the EPA for a decade and is now a writer and video producer.