A Paradise of Small Houses: The Evolution, Devolution, and Potential Rebirth of Urban Housing

What a wonderfully fun read! I'm a longtime New Yorker, but learned a ton about the housing stock in my own city, not to mention the home structures in other favorite cities. You can easily pick this up and read any chapter at random, but it's beautifully structured and flows well when you read it start to finish. Absolutely engrossing - would recommend for anyone who loves learning about architecture, or anyone visiting NYC, LA, Portland, OR, Chicago, or NOLA who wants more background and history on the unique housing styles in those areas.

I enjoyed this historical and current perspective on the various housing styles in cities across the North American continent, including the row houses of Philadelphia and the shot gun houses of New Orleans. The shot gun houses, for instance, had their origins in the Caribbean, and immigrants brought this island style into Louisiana. The book is well researched and discusses a variety of building styles in a cross section of cities, including Vancouver.

I've lived in and visited countless old houses and never understood the reasons for their specific layout, materials used, or how their first inhabitants engaged with their precious space. This book offers an easily accessible and often humorous explanation of all of that. It also serves as a reminder that housing scarcity and inequality is nothing new. We can look to the past for ideas on how to adapt our living spaces and our lifestyles to increase the density in our cities. It's an investment that will make those cities more vibrant and livable for all.