Community Almanac

Updated May 21, 2011

October 2010 was proclaimed Community Planning Month in Pflugerville at the City Council meeting on October 12, 2010.

A display about planning was set up for October by the Pflugerville Community Library. On exhibit was a variety of books including a number that are supportive of or critical of smart growth and/or the New Urbanism. Some of these books are listed below.

This Land: The Battle over Sprawl and the Future of America by Anthony Flint supports smart growth; but, as the title suggests, also serves as a reference about the smart growth controversy. This Land has much information about the major players in the debate.

This Land: Catalog number 307.76 FLIN 2006.

One of the most prominent critics of smart growth is Randal O’Toole. One of his books, The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future, presents lively arguments in support of what he advocates. His blog, The Antiplanner, was begun back in January 2007. Some contributors of occasional comments to his blog live in the Central Texas area.

The Best-Laid Plans: Catalog number 338.97 OTOO 2007.

One reason why Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck may be of interest is that  Duany and Plater-Zyberk are two of the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism.

Suburban Nation: Catalog number 307.76 DUAN 2000.

Sprawl: A Compact History by Robert Bruegmann is largely supportive of suburbia and the suburban lifestyle.

Sprawl: Catalog number 307.76 BRUE 2005.

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A list of related publications in local libraries is posted at http://pfnow.webs.com/nowfiles/books.html

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Some books of possible interest to neighborhood associations and HOAs.

Copies of these books were recently donated to the Pflugerville Community Library by PfCONA.

• Benjamin, Susan. Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People. 158.2 BENJ 2008.
• Cagle, Gregory S. Texas Homeowners Association Law. R 346.764 CAGL 2010.
• Conducting Meetings: A Guide to Running Productive Community Association Board Meetings. 643 COND 2005.
• Copyright-Free Articles for Community Association Newsletters and Websites. 643 COPY 2009.
• Hyatt, Amanda G. Developer Transition: How Community Associations Assume Independence. 346.7304 HYAT 2004.
• Lewin, Debra H., Editor. Building Community: Proven Strategies for Turning Homeowners into Neighbors. 643 BUIL 2005.
• Poliakoff, Gary A., and Ryan Poliakoff. New Neighborhoods: The Consumer’s Guide to Condominium, Co-op, and HOA living. 333.33 POLI 2009.
• Trigiani, Lucia Anna. Reinventing the Rules: A Step-By-Step Guide for Being Reasonable. 643 TRIG 2002.