I loved applying the ideas from Jacobs onto contemporary cities, but they don’t always hold up. Either way, I think this is an important book for anyone concerned with cities and the built form to read, because it establishes useful vocabulary for talking about urban phenomenon and was incredibly important when it was written. Jacobs’ sometimes irritatingly authoratative tone can be kind of grinding, but served to remind me that she was just some white person who lived comfortably in Greenwich Village.