Reviews (5)

very good all-around reference
I primarily work as a structural-architectural engineer and am becoming more and more involved in civil-site work.This handbook is exactly what I was looking for in terms of something that would quickly get me "up to speed" in the fundamentals of civil-site design. Difficult to follow!
I am in a class at Community College of Baltimore Countyand we are using this book at this time. Our whole class along with the Professor find this book to be very difficult to follow. The book constantly repeats itself making it extremely boring to read and is not fluent at all. They have examples that reference charts that are 3-5 pages apart from the problem being discussed the formulas you almost have to figure out for yourself how they are used and there are alot of typos. A Must Have Pub
Ever since I purchased this publication I can't stop using it.Every civil engineer should have this as part of their reference library, regardless of your area of specialty.It providesmacro to micro scale explanations of general processes, design applications, etc in a very readable format.More times than I can remember I have looked to this book for an answer or at least for some guidance and was throuroughly satisfied.No it is not a definitive reference for civil engineers but its' breadth and usability overshadows any technical shortcomings.If I had to have just one reference book for my area of practice (general civil), this would be it.Yeah, yeah, the "Standard Handbook for Civil Engineers" is a more definitive reference, but I usually find out what I need in this pub.Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Building Sites    3. Construction - General    4. Engineering - Civil    5. Engineering geology    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Land Use    8. Land Utilization    9. Law    10. Planning    11. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    12. Real estate development    13. Remodeling & Renovation - General    14. Science/Mathematics    15. Surveying    16. Architecture / Planning    17. Civil Engineering, Surveying & Building    18. Property & real estate   

Reviews (8)

Rational Thoughts on a Typically Irrational Topic
Babbitt begins by telling us that relentless building of highways have spearheaded landscape destruction as land speculators and developers follow.Local governments generally have neither the political will, expertise, nor financial resources to stand up to well-financed developers and their political contributions.Babbitt then goes on to make the case for federal leadership in making land use regulation more effective, and uses examples from his experience involving the Everglades, Southern California, and the Chesapeake Bay to make the point.
A good prescription for a "realistic" 21st century environmentalism
I use "realistic" in scare quotes as an alternative to "idealistic" environmentalism without commenting on the moral value or desirability of either approach.
Book Review
Cities in the Wilderness
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    4. Government policy    5. Land Use    6. Management    7. Planning    8. Political    9. Politics - Current Events    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    12. Public Policy - Environmental Policy    13. United States    14. Wilderness areas    15. Biography & Autobiography / Political    16. Law / Land Use    17. Management of land & natural resources    18. USA   

Subjects:  1. Land Use    2. Law    3. Legal Reference / Law Profession   

Subjects:  1. Agriculture - General    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental Studies    4. Land Use    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Agriculture    8. Agriculture & Farming    9. Climate Policy    10. Greenhouse gas mitigation    11. Science / Environmental Science   

Reviews (2)

Great Planning Resource
I'm a public official with the planning function, looking for a better way to preserve farm land, open space and rural character. This book offers a lot of insight into the history and uses of conservation easements. The book is divided into sections that describe in detail how laws and courts in each section of the country administer conservation easements. I recommend this book - it is an excellent planning resource!

A Dynamic Contribution!
The editors, Julie Ann Gustanski and Roderick Squires have broughttogether a dynamic team of experts from across the country.The legalanalysis chapters help all those who are interested, not only in knowingtheir own state's conservation easement laws, but those who are looking tohelp forge new or improved legislation in their state.Read more

Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Conservation easements    3. Environmental    4. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    5. Land Conservation    6. Land Use    7. Legal Reference / Law Profession    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Property    11. United States    12. Conservation of the environment    13. Law / Property    14. Management of land & natural resources    15. Property, real estate, land & tenancy law   

Reviews (3)

A no-nonsense guide to understanding what zoning is
The Complete Guide To Zoning: How Real Estate Owners and Developers Can Create and Preserve Property Value is a no-nonsense guide to understanding what zoning is and how to use it to protect one's property rights and interests. Zoning and Land-Use Law controls what can be done with land and how it can be developed; The Complete Guide To Zoning offers the lay reader a very short course in the law, the importance of knowing what one has, what one wants, and how to get it, the value of creating and leveraging relationships, when to reach out for support, preparing winning applications and making successful presentations, strategies for winning zoning battles, and much more. Chapters give equal focus to pursuing one's desire to develop land commercially, or the desire to see that adjoining lands to one's residential area are not developed commercially. Written in plain terms, The Complete Guide To Zoning is highly accessible regardless of the reader's legal background, and a "must-read" for property owners everywhere.
Great Book
As the Director of Planning and Development for a mid sized city in CT for the last 16 years, I highly reccomend this book. All planners and developers should read it.

A Great Insiders Look at Zoning
The Complete Guide to Zoning
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Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Environmental Planning And Management    4. Land Use    5. Land Utilization    6. Law    7. Public Policy - Regional Planning    8. Real Estate    9. Real Estate - General    10. United States    11. Zoning law    12. Business & Economics / Real Estate    13. Reference   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. City planning    3. Conservation Of Natural Resources (General)    4. Conservation of natural resources    5. Development - Sustainable Development    6. Environmental    7. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    8. Environmental Planning And Management    9. Environmental aspects    10. Land Use    11. Land subdivision    12. Law    13. Planning    14. Politics/International Relations    15. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    16. United States    17. Architecture / Planning    18. City & town planning - architectural aspects    19. Conservation of the environment    20. Environment law    21. Management of land & natural resources    22. Political Science / Public Policy    23. Property, real estate, land & tenancy law   

Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental Studies    4. Land Use    5. Law    6. Law and legislation    7. Real estate development    8. United States    9. Zoning law    10. Private, property, family law   

Subjects:  1. Land Use    2. Law   

Subjects:  1. Business/Economics    2. Economic aspects    3. Environmental Science    4. Environmental Studies    5. Environmental aspects    6. Land Use    7. Land Utilization    8. Law    9. Natural Resources    10. Planning    11. United States    12. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection    13. Property & real estate    14. Property, real estate, land & tenancy law   

Reviews (2)

A valuable discussion linking business interests to environmental concerns to show how conservation investment banking can work
William J. Ginn's Investing In Nature: Case Studies Of Land Conservation In Collaboration With Business is a valuable discussion linking business interests to environmental concerns to show how conservation investment banking can work. Ginn's background in both business and land conservation issues at The Nature Conservancy allows him to reveal collaborative efforts which work for both in this inspirational guide of real-life achievements.
Use Your Head to Work with Your Heart
This is a book for people who are ready to get very creative!Prepare to learn how to braid industry, energy, and conservation into a plan for America's future.Bill GInn begins the converstation with a great and very practical story about his own inability to grow food on his own farm in Maine because his soil was too acidic.Lookiing for solutions led him to his discovery that the " cheap miracle" he needed was in the waste product the paper mill in his own backyard was spending millions of dollars trucking out of the state. From this beginning, he saw a new life for waste materials, and an industry growing from it. Realizing he could do as much as an " eco-business man" than he could as the head of Maine's prestiges Audubon Society, he launched on an odessy which will inspire and ignite the interest of others looking for a new way to move ahead in our quest for a future for America's Conservation Movement.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Case studies    4. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    5. Finance    6. Green Business    7. Investments & Securities - General    8. Land Use    9. Land use, Rural    10. Nature    11. Nature / Field Guide Books    12. Nature conservation    13. Open spaces    14. Planning    15. Public Policy - General    16. States    17. United States    18. Business & Economics / Green Business    19. Conservation of the environment    20. Environmental economics    21. Management of land & natural resources    22. Political Science / Public Policy   

Reviews (1)

Simple, beginners book
Almost half of the book is devoted to the appendices, which contain numerous useful checklists, forms, financial spreadsheets and sample agreements.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Control Of Land    4. Land Use    5. Land subdivision    6. Real Estate - General    7. Real Estate Economics    8. Real estate development    9. Residential real estate    10. Civil Engineering, Surveying & Building    11. Property & real estate   

Subjects:  1. Africa - General    2. Anthropology - Cultural    3. Government policy    4. History    5. History: World    6. Land Use    7. Land settlement    8. Modern - 20th Century    9. Political Freedom & Security - General    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Zimbabwe    12. African Studies    13. Anthropology/Ethnography    14. Land rights    15. Postcolonial Studies    16. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    17. Social & cultural anthropology   

Subjects:  1. Comparative    2. England    3. Land Use    4. Land tenure    5. Law    6. Law and legislation    7. Legal Reference / Law Profession    8. Real Estate    9. Real property    10. Wales    11. English law: property (real estate)    12. Law / Land Use    13. Law | Property & Land Law   

Reviews (1)

"I've Got Mine, Jack!"
There are scads of good books on state and Federal government, but few on local government. William Fischel's The Homevoter Hypothesis is an exception and is an apparent classic on local government.Fischel's book advances more than an "hypothesis."It is a "correlation" that convincingly describes from case studies and case law how real estate economics drives local government. Fischel reports that housing equity in the U.S. is eleven times as large as liquid assets among all homeowners. Home equity value is the largest asset of private wealth.But this equity value is constantly under threat from external forces ("externalities") beyond the control of property owners except by government intervention. Homes are an immovable asset whose value can't be insured against a wipeout of equity. Homeownerswill consent to the impositions of municipal and school district financing, zoning, growth controls, and environmental regulations only to the extent that they protect home values, or can be "capitalized" (converted) into higher property values. Fischel advances what he calls the "Tiebout Hypothesis" (from Charles Tiebout) that "people vote with their feet" by moving or shopping for a locality to maximize their wealth.Actually, because real estate is an immobile asset, Fischel's theorem might be more accurately restated as "people put their feet to the vote" or "stake their home value to the vote." Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Development - Economic Development    3. Economics - General    4. Land Use    5. Law    6. Law / Land Use    7. Local government    8. USA   

Reviews (1)

The definitive text on zoning and land use.
I give the book a 9 out of 10 only because it needs updating.The fields of zoning and land use change daliy.In the four years which I have used this book in graduate courses in land use law, many new issues arisen and new cases have been decided.However, the book is still the best single volume on the topic and should be required reading for all zoning and land use professsionals. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Cases    3. Land Use    4. Law    5. Law and legislation    6. Legal Reference / Law Profession    7. United States   

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Conservation of natural resources    3. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    4. Environmental aspects    5. History    6. Land Use    7. Land use, Rural    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Public Policy - General    11. Public lands    12. Real Estate - General    13. United States    14. History of specific subjects    15. Management of land & natural resources    16. Political Science / Public Policy    17. USA   

Editorial Review

In an exploration of the grasslands of North America that is both sweeping and intimate, Manning makes interesting connections between economics, botany, farming, and democracy. His discussion of the impact of romantic ideals of landscapes upon this biome is insightful, and his travels with botanists, biologists, buffalo and a visit to Ted Turner's ranch put faces and feet on the story.The message: by a careful reading of nature's design, we can more successfully inhabit this and all landscapes. Recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Audacious, Quirky Proposal - Warrants Serious Consideration
I have encountered few books like Richard Manning's Grassland. Manning's manifesto - reserved for the final chapters - is audacious, even quirky. Grassland's subtitle, The History, Biology, Politics, and Promise of the American Prairie, suggests a reasoned, broad-based analysis, and that is what Richard Manning provides. Nonetheless, his conclusions are breath-taking in their originality. My initial skepticism remains, but Manning does have me thinking about his proposal. Maybe, just maybe, he is on the right track.
Absolutely incredible piece of work
This is just a wonderful book on a part of our country that is "foreign" to many.I have recently been preparing a program on photograghy of the Great Plains and it"s as though the information in Grasslands is an answer to my prayer.It is literally packed with so much material so well presented that it should be required reading for all of our children andPOLICY MAKERS INGOVERNMENTS {particularly our current administration!!}.

Very interesting, a lot of information, can be slow reading
Part autobiographical (Manning writing about his travels around the nation learning about prarie restoration efforts), part biology textbook (telling about the types of flora & fauna that developed on the praries over time- and what has become of them),and part history ( the story of human involvement with the ecosystem).
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Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental Studies    4. Grassland conservation    5. Grassland ecology    6. Grasslands    7. Land Use    8. Life Sciences - Ecology    9. Nature    10. Nature/Ecology    11. United States    12. Nature / Ecology   

Subjects:  1. Land Use    2. Law    3. Law and legislation    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. United States    6. Zoning law    7. Law / Land Use   

Reviews (1)

Daniels Describes Basics of Preserving AG Land
Tom Daniels provides this concise yet detailed description of several land use based agriculture preservation tools including, TDR's, PDR's, conservation easements, ag zoning, urban growth boundaries, and local right-to-farm laws.There are model documents provided in the appendices which give a detailed view of specific preservation measures.Read more

Subjects:  1. Agriculture    2. Agriculture - Sustainable Agriculture    3. Economic aspects    4. Environmental Studies    5. Land Use    6. Land use, Rural    7. Law    8. Natural Resources    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Regional planning    11. Rural Planning    12. United States    13. Use Of Rural Lands    14. City & town planning - architectural aspects    15. Property & real estate    16. Property, real estate, land & tenancy law    17. Rural communities    18. Technology / Agriculture / Sustainable Agriculture