Ways to the West: How Getting out of Our Cars Is Reclaiming America’s Frontier by Tim Sullivan
Question: Can a book on urban planning in the West be a terrific read? Answer: Yes, in the hands of Tim Sullivan. An urban planner and alternative transportation expert, Sulllivan gets out of his car, literally, not only in several major Western cities but also while traveling between them. In recounting these travels—from San Francisco to Salt Lake via Vegas, through Wyoming to Denver to Phoenix then a thousand miles north to Boise, and on to Portland—he combines the personal with the factual with the theoretical, turning what might have been a dry and technical account into a series of fascinating forays into the future of our cities here in the West. He talks to planners, urban designers, and developers, but his own travels are easily as fascinating as he bikes up and down mountains, taking Greyhounds when he has to, trains when he can, delving into the history of each city, examining the changes in transportation, the ways lives are affected and the future is reshaped. Even the footnotes are fascinating in a book that everyone in this city—or in any city in the West should read. You’ll love it, and it just might change the way you think! – Betsy Burton
