Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith (The Christian Practice of Everyday Life)

I was attracted to this book because… I was intrigued by this concept of community and cities. I heard about during a webinar. There are very interesting concepts of what makes communities work and why so many of suburbs leave us feeling rather separated and unfulfilled. On it adds in the element of faith into cities. I felt like this book would support the current piece of fiction I’m writing.This book was about… there were two parts in the book, Part 1 - Thinking about our cities, which discusses God’s plan from the Garden to Jerusalem. The city of New Jerusalem is God’s ultimate destination for his chosen people. Part 2 - Looks at Markers of the City and includes the elements of faith to go along with these markers.Things I liked about this book… I was challenged by the societal elements of the book and the practical ways he supports his writing with scriptures and examples. It did have many elements that supports the ideas in the project I’m working on. I realized that many Hallmark movies are based on these concepts. - Efficient, modern architects are coming into town to replace a historical building with a modern, cold structure or want to build condominiums. Although it doesn’t mention Hallmark movies, this book show why we are drawn to those stories. For what I’m writing, I was particularly intrigued by the section on critical mass or a sufficient number of people to engage or sustain action around a specific concerns. Cities can provide critical mass.Why you should read this book… If you want to have your thinking turned upside down about living in a city or about mixed zoning or low income housing this book is for you. If you are thinking about moving somewhere different, I would recommend this book.

If you are a person of faith who feels vaguely uneasy with our car-centric suburban American culture, you simply must read this book!Jacobsen tackles the somewhat trendy topic of new urbanism, the idea of creating (or preserving) neighborhoods like some of us remember from our childhood, where it was possible to walk to the barbershop and stop for an ice cream cone along the way. Jacobsen goes to some length to connect this powerful idea to a sound biblical theology of the city. He makes the point (more than once) that the ultimate conusmation of human existence is described not as a garden--where it all started--but as a city. But not one to only give one side of the story, the author deals honestly with scriptures that show how cities also grew out of human vanity and pride. His arguments are well grounded in both reason and scripture, and he manages to find fault with both conservative evangelicals and mainline liberals, which I consider a plus.The introduction invokes a powerful sense of community as the author describes a walk to a local coffee shop, and how the decision to relocate his church to the suburban edge of town would not only make such a walk impossible, but would at the same time disenfranchise the elderly, infirm and younger members of the congregation whose access to cars is limited.In short, this book, as the title suggests, gives a superb overview of the most compelling New Urbanist ideas from a Christian perspective that is not biased toward liberal or conservative, but is biased toward a humane theology that cares about people and the cities they live in. Highly, highly recommended.

If Jane Jacobs (1992) The death and life of great American cities had you saying Yes! Then Jacobsen's sidewalks in the kingdom will also resonate. Ultimately this is a book about placemaking - considering how urban design and our behaviors impact our sense of community and the type of community we have. Eugene Peterson's forward claims "All living is local" (p. 9) followed by Jacobsen's admonition that "to most Christians, the idea of urban planning seems as relevant to faith as...." (p. 14). This book is written for Christians and is Jacobsen's attempt to get us to reconsider our thinking on urban planning.Part 1: Thinking About Our Cities - incudes a section on learning to see our cities, a theological approach.Part 2: Markers of the city:* Public spaces* Mixed use, pedestrian scale* Beauty, quality, and other 'nonessentials'* Local economy and the permanence of place* Critical mass and making friends* Strangers and hospitalityBook includes a glossary, bibliography, and a draft charter for what Jacobsen described as a New Urbanism.

Book with great insights. Somewhat repetitive, but makes you think. The author does a good job at getting the reader involved with personal insights.

I really enjoyed this book and Jacobsen's perscpectives. One must remember though that his main experience is with the city of Missoula. It does encourage me to think about my surroundings and the importance of interacting with people.

This book has helped me to recognize cultural differences, changes, and similarities in my community. This was an excellent and very informative book

This is a well meaning book about human values and local shared space. It reads like a baptism of "New Urbanism" rather than a fresh theological exploration. This is fine. Christians are human too. But with the biblically loaded word "Kingdom" in the title I was hoping for something which might help me live as a child of Christ's Kingdom in the strange amalgam of "Babylon the Great" and "Jerusalem the Golden" which is London. There are thoughts which might aid the gentrifiers of Islington or the prettifiers of our abused provincial towns but we who dwell in the belly of megalopolis must await a more radical restoration I suspect.One rather obvious failure of this vision is that property prices in beautified and humanised environments tend to skyrocket. It is not so much that the walls of gated communities are removed but rather that they are replaced by less visible but equally real economic and social barriers. Ellul's book on the "Meaning of the City" is a bleaker vision but seems truer to both experience and scripture. See  The Meaning of the City (Jacques Ellul Legacy)The Meaning of the City (Jacques Ellul Legacy)

Interesting take on Neighbourhood mission