American Urbanist
How William H. Whyte's Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life
352 pages
6 x 9
14 photos
Book Description
On an otherwise normal weekday in the 1980s, commuters on busy Route 1 in central New Jersey noticed an alarming sight: a man in a suit and tie dashing across four lanes of traffic, then scurrying through a narrow underpass as cars whizzed by within inches. The man was William “Holly” Whyte, a pioneer of people-centered urban design. Decades before 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 love today—from New York’s bustling Bryant Park to preserved forests and farmlands around the country. Holly’s experiences as a WWII intelligence officer and leader of the genre-defining reporters at Fortune Magazine in the 1950s shaped his razor-sharp assessments of how the world actually worked—not how it was assumed to work. His 1956 bestseller, 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 careers and companies, cities and suburbs, urban planning, open space preservation, and more. He was part of the rising environmental movement, helped spur change at the planning office of New York City, and narrated two films about urban life, in addition to writing six books. No matter the topic, Holly advocated for the decisionmakers to be people, not just 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 a rare glimpse into the mind of an iconoclast whose healthy skepticism of the status quo can help guide our efforts to create the kinds of places we want to live in today.
Review Quotes
"A marvelous new biography."
The New York Times
"Journalist Rein debuts with an intriguing intellectual biography of journalist and urbanist William "Holly" Whyte (1917–1999)… [He] foregrounds Whyte’s own writing and analyses, which were remarkably prescient. The result is a welcome tribute to a visionary thinker."
Publishers Weekly
"Rein’s comprehensive biography of this icon of the planning and preservation movement focuses on Whyte’s vision and legacy, offering an accessible and worthy source of inspiration for contemporary and future land-use challenges."
Booklist
"In American Urbanist, journalist Richard Rein tells the story of William H. Whyte’s particular genius and why it exercises an enduring influence on American life"
Wall Street Journal
"At a moment when the world’s downtowns and midtowns are slowly coming back to life, this thorough and thoughtful book is an inspiring companion."
The New York Times
"Rein’s book is truly impressive...[He] rescues Whyte’s legacy by chronicling his visionary critiques of urban and suburban America. He was the Paul Revere of critics of American urbanism and suburbanism, yet his warnings were not heeded...Thanks to Richard Rein for bringing the forgotten legacy of William H. Whyte back to life."
Beyond Chron
"This biography will hopefully expand Whyte's influence on cities, workplaces, and, most importantly, the people in both of them."
A Daily Dose of Architecture Books
"An excellent examination of [Whyte’s] work and advocacy."
American Conservative
"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 years of steps forward, we’ve gone backward on several fronts, most of all in cities. Rein’s book comes at an opportune time, because Whyte’s writing needs to be reread and celebrated all over again."
Common Edge
"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
"[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
"American Urbanist will help elevate Whyte to be listed among the 20th century’s planning heroes, alongside Jane Jacobs."
Journal of Urban Affairs
"This is a must read for anyone concerned with urbanism and interested in individuals who helped shape today's urban processes through a combination of natural ability, field experience, and practical methodology."
Choice
"Whyte's life, urban planning ideas, and significant impact on building and growing the preservation movement in America should be part of any library collection strong in not just urban development and planning, but social change and community issues. The blend of biography and insights on urban development choices and trends is outstanding."
Donovan's Literary Services
"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"
"William H. Whyte had a profound influence on how we think about cities, but his contribution was so wide-ranging that it can be hard to pin down. In his engaging new biography, Rein presents Whyte as an original thinker who was always restless to ‘blow the lid off’ accepted wisdom, trusting his eyes and his gut instead."
Amanda Kolson Hurley, "Bloomberg Businessweek" Journalist and author of "Radical Suburbs"
Contents
Preface
Introduction: A Man of Many Missions
Chapter 1: The Cast of Characters, from White to Whyte
Chapter 2: Princeton—from Rower to Writer
Chapter 3: Vicks and the Marines—Information to Intelligence
Chapter 4: Fortune Magazine—the Foundation for a Career
Chapter 5: Is Anybody Listening?—the High Cost of Harmony and Groupthink
Chapter 6: The Organization Man—More than an Epithet
Chapter 7: The Exploding Metropolis—Discovering Jane Jacobs
Chapter 8: With Laurance Rockefeller, Conservationist Turned Environmentalist
Chapter 9: Preserving the Last Landscape, Rural and Urban
Chapter 10: Organization Man to Family Man
Chapter 11: From Men in Suits, a Radical Plan for New York City
Chapter 12: Preservation Tactics in the Urban Landscape
Chapter 13: The Art of Small Urban Spaces
Chapter 14: From Small Spaces to the City: Rediscovering the Center
Chapter 15: Revisiting the Organization Man—and Woman
Chapter 16: Applying Urban Principles in Suburban Places
Chapter 17: The Final Years
Chapter 18: Whyte in the Twenty-First Century—the Urban Imperative
Chapter 19: Whyte in the Twenty-First Century—Battling the Status Quo
Afterword: Taking Cues from Whyte’s Way
Acknowledgments
Bibliographic Notes
Notes
About the Author
Index
Events
American Urbanist: How William H. Whyte Reshaped Public Life
American Urbanist: How William H. Whyte Reshaped Public Life
Thursday, 7 April 2022 - 1:00pm
William (Holly) Whyte was a pioneer of people-centered urban design who challenged planners to look beyond their desks and drawings: “You have to get out and walk.”
Join the Smart Growth Network at 1:00 p.m. EDT, Thursday, April 7, as Richard Rein, author of the new biography of White, American Urbanist, offers a glimpse into the mind of an urbanist whose thoughts changed how planners and others think about how to create the kinds of places we want to live in.
Participants of the live webinar are eligible for 1.5 AICP CM credits (live attendance required).
The Skyscraper Museum Book Talk: Richard Rein's biography of William H. Whyte, American Urbanist
The Skyscraper Museum Book Talk: Richard Rein's biography of William H. Whyte, American Urbanist
Wednesday, 4 May 2022 - 6:00pm
In what the New York Times review calls a "marvelous new biography," journalist Richard K. Rein chronicles the life of William H. Whyte, one of the most influential writers and analysts of American cities and society in the second half of the twentieth century. From his bestselling, seminal book The Organization Man of 1956, to the revelatory The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces of 1980, “Holly” Whyte’s work changed how people thought about careers and companies, cities and suburbs, urban planning and open space preservation.
Whyte’s keen eye for urban observation and clear, insightful writing on human behavior in public space, both preceded and enabled the voice of Jane Jacobs to burst forth in print in the 1960s, first as her editor at Fortune, then as an instrumental figure in the publication of Death and Life of Great American Cities. Somewhat eclipsed by the subsequent fame of Jacobs – especially today – the influence of Holly Whyte on now several generations of urban designers, do earn him the description on Rein’s title, American Urbanist.
Reading Room: Richard K. Rein, American Urbanist at Bryant Park
Reading Room: Richard K. Rein, American Urbanist at Bryant Park
Wednesday, 10 August 2022 - 7:00pm
Bryant Park
New York, NY 10018
United StatesAugust 10, 2022 at 7:00 pm
Reading Room -- Non-fiction Authors: History as seen through the eyes of preeminent authors.
Richard K. Rein, author of American Urbanist: How William H. Whyte's Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life, will read from his latest book celebrating the life of a man whose advocacy reshaped many of the places we know and love today, from New York’s bustling Bryant Park to preserved forests and farmlands around the country: William “Holly” Whyte.
Produced in partnership with New-York Historical Society
Bryant Park is located between 40th and 42nd Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues behind the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman building.
American Urbanist—How William H. Whyte’s Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life
American Urbanist—How William H. Whyte’s Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life
Wednesday, 26 October 2022 - 4:00pm
Join the Center for the Living City for a conversation with journalist and urban activist, Richard K. Rein, as he brings us into the world of William ‘Holly’ Whyte through his new book, American Urbanist—How William H. Whyte’s Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life. This Jane Jacobs Lecture highlights Holly Whyte’s profound impact on cities, the role Whyte had in Jane Jacobs’s life, and illuminates Whyte’s “splendidly unreasonable” ideas, observations, and actions in urban life.
“We need the kind of curiosity that blows the lid off everything,” Holly once said.
A special thank you to Marywood University’s School of Architecture for sponsoring this lecture.
Space is limited but the event will be recorded and available on our website and YouTube channel afterward.
Case Studies & Excerpts
Read the Chapter 1: The Cast of Characters, from White to Whyte below or download it here.