Book excerpt: "Solving Sprawl offers an encouraging contrast to these grim trends. Through 35 inspiring stories, the book illustrates how cities, suburbs, and rural areas have found profitable, community-oriented alternatives to sprawl. The developers, planners, and ordinary citizens featured in the book have successfully turned industrial brownfields into pedestrian-friendly shopping hubs, built affordable housing around public transit, and preserved cherished local landscapes. Solving Sprawl illustrates a wide variety of successful smart-growth strategies and reveals how these techniques allow local economies, environments, and communities to thrive."--Jacket.