American Urbanist

On an otherwise normal weekday in the 1980s, commuters on busy Route 1 in central New Jersey noticed an alarmingsight: a man in a suit and tie dashing across four lanes of traffic, then scurrying through a narrow underpass as carswhizzed by within inches. The man was William “Holly” Whyte, a pioneer of people-centered urban design. Decadesbefore this perilous trek to a meeting in the suburbs, he had urged planners to look beyond their desks and drawings:“You have to get out and walk.”American Urbanist shares the life and wisdom of a man whose advocacy reshaped many of the places we know and lovetoday—from New York’s bustling Bryant Park to preserved forests and farmlands around the country. Holly’sexperiences as a WWII intelligence officer and leader of the genre-defining reporters at Fortune Magazine in the 1950sshaped his razor-sharp assessments of how the world actually worked—not how it was assumed to work. His 1956bestseller, The Organization Man, catapulted the dangers of “groupthink” and conformity into the national consciousness.Over his five decades of research and writing, Holly’s wide-ranging work changed how people thought about careersand companies, cities and suburbs, urban planning, open space preservation, and more. He was part of the risingenvironmental movement, helped spur change at the planning office of New York City, and narrated two films abouturban life, in addition to writing six books. No matter the topic, Holly advocated for the decisionmakers to be people, notjust experts.“We need the kind of curiosity that blows the lid off everything,” Holly once said. His life offers encouragement to be thoughtful and bold in asking questions and in making space for differing viewpoints. This revealing biography offers arare glimpse into the mind of an iconoclast whose healthy skepticism of the status quo can help guide our efforts to createthe kinds of places we want to live in today.

"Wonderful portrait by Richard Rein, who reveals this man ahead of his time--US marine, traveling salesman, magazine editor, and pioneering urbanist - who recognized that he came from a life of privilege, and so realizing this made himself one of its most fiercest critics, especially against the shortcomings of post-war America status quo thinking....Representing an astonishing body of research on an important commentator and urban philosopher on the modern city, Rein's book will be quite at home on the bookshelves of planners and architects alike." -- "Spacing", "Richard K. Rein's American Urbanist is a must-read book--not just for those who care about building better cities but for anyone and everyone who cares about more-effective companies and creative organizations. Through Rein's detailed telling, 'Holly' Whyte emerges as among the most important urbanists--and even more so, as one of the most important public intellectuals of our time, shaping the discourse about economy and society, cities and management, innovation and creativity, over the course of the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries."--Richard Florida, author of "Rise of the Creative Class", "American Urbanist will help elevate Whyte to be listed among the 20th century's planning heroes, alongside Jane Jacobs."-- "Journal of Urban Affairs", "[American Urbanist] recaptures the life and remarkable career of this lay urban critic .... deftly weaves together the strands of Whyte's personal and public life while immersing readers in post-World War II America."-- "Princeton Alumni Weekly", "Rein's book ... details all of Whyte's seminal contributions to the present-day city experience. But it also, if less explicitly, reveals one of the most intriguing realities of Whyte's long life and career: Starting out as a militant individualist, Whyte gradually dedicated himself to finding ways for city-dwellers to create enclaves of community in the places where they live." -- "Governing"

After a reporting career that included stops at Time Magazine and People, Richard K. Rein launched a nationally acclaimed weekly newspaper, U.S. 1, that helped the Princeton-Route 1 corridor become more than an "edge city." Rein now serves on Princeton Future, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable urbanism in his hometown.