Olsen, Joshua.  Better Places, Better Lives: A Biography of James Rouse.  Washington, D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 2003.

Describes Rouse's transformation from a 22-year-old upstart with an innovative plan to facilitate Baltimore's residential mortgages into a master planner and city builder celebrated on the cover of Time magazine.  Rouse was a leading force in changing the face of downtown and suburbia, creating new concepts and building types that affected a wide range of people, from city dwellers and suburbanites to young professionals and tourists.

Thomsett, Michael C.  NIMBYism: Navigating the Politics of Local Opposition.  Arlington, Va.: CenterLine Publishing, 2004.

The NIMBY movement developed out of concerns about air pollution and other potentially life-threatening hazards. Today it has evolved to encompass community concerns over any land use that is not wanted.  NIMBYism delivers the insights and field-tested steps necessary for you to battle local opposition, build community support, and successfully manage confrontation during hearings and court battles, and how to use effective communication to avoid a confrontational NIMBY movement entirely.

Temali, Mihailo.  The Community Economic Development Handbook: Strategies and Tools to Revitalize your Neighborhood.  St. Paul, Minn.: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 2002.

"A gem — exceptionally clear, creative, and practical introductory resource. A much-needed guide for community groups." Xavier de Souza-Briggs, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Inam, Aseem.  Planning for the Unplanned: Recovering from Crises in Megacities.  New York: Routledge, 2005.

The book discovers the systematic features that contribute to the success of planning institutions. In cities filled with uncertainty and complexity, planning institutions effectively tackle unexpected and sudden change by relying on the old and the familiar, rather than the new and the innovative.

Burchell, Robert W., et al.  Sprawl Costs: Economic Impacts of Unchecked Development.  Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2005.

The environmental impacts of sprawling development have been well documented, but few comprehensive studies have examined its economic costs. In 1996, a team of experts undertook a multi-year study designed to provide quantitative measures of the costs and benefits of different forms of growth. Sprawl Costs presents a concise and readable summary of the results of that study.

Kehde, Karl.  Smarter Land Use: How to Enhance Proposed Projects to get Better Neighborhoods, Less Sprawl, and Fewer Lawsuits.  Northampton, Mass.: LUFNET, 2002.

This citizen's guidebook provides all land development stakeholders with proven, do-it-yourself procedures for ending conflict and for designing and gaining approvals for community-enhancing land development that specifically improves local property values, reduces traffic congestion, enhances natural and historic resources, and builds community spirit. The result of twelve years of hands-on learning and teaching in 48 land developments in as many different communities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Washington.

Teitz, Michael B., Charles Dietzel, and William Fulton.  Urban Development Futures in the San Joaquin Valley. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California, 2005.

Models urban growth in San Joaquin Valley over the next four decades. Its results, which include color maps to illustrate the spread of urbanization, will help policymakers and the public to assess the implications of that growth and to consider a range of policy responses. Taken together, the scenarios point to a tripling of the urbanized land stock by 2040, lower densities, and significant declines in farmland.

De Souza Briggs, Xavier N., Ed.  The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan America.  Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2005.

In this book, some of the nation's leading analysts and advocates show why segregation persists and how it undermines education, job prospects, and even health and safety for millions of minorities and low-income families. Calling housing "the most important invisible social policy issue in America," the book outlines and agenda to expand the geography of opportunity and assesses the political promise — and limits — of the movement for regional solutions.

Albrechts, Louis, and Seymour J. Mandelbaum, Eds. The Network Society: A New Context for Planning. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Chapters grouped into five themes discuss theoretical and practical perspectives on the contemporary organization of social, economic, cultural, political and physical spaces.  The first section looks at models of the Network Society. The second looks at the impact of physical networks such as transport. The third discusses challenges for Planners raised by society's increased reliance on new technology. The fourth examines local networks including community networks and the possibilities of setting up local networks for disaster recovery. The final part compares spatial and policy networks and looks at the institutions involved.

American Planning Association.  Planning and Urban Design Standards.  New York: Wiley, 2006.

The most comprehensive reference book on urban planning, design, and development available today. Contributions from more than two hundred renowned professionals provide rules of thumb and best practices for mitigating such environmental impacts as noise, traffic, aesthetics, preservation of green space and wildlife, water quality, and more.

Easley, V. Gail, and David A. Theriaque. The Board of Adjustment: The Citizens Planning Series. Chicago: Planners Press, 2005.

With checklists, sample reports, real-world examples, and easy-to-understand prose, the book demystifies waivers, conditional uses, legal issues, and more. It also covers bylaws, record keeping, and day-to-day operations. This is a must-have reference for all board of adjustment members.

Sanford, Robert M., and Dana H. Farley. Site Plan and Development Review: A Guide for Northern New England. Newfane, Vt.: Putney Press, 2004.

This book will help citizen volunteers and professionals alike determine the merits of development projects. The book is written specifically for review board members with limited training.

Colten, Craig E.  An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from Nature. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005.

Craig E. Colten traces engineered modifications to New Orleans's natural environment from 1800 to 2000. Before the city could swell in size and commercial importance as its nineteenth-century boosters envisioned, builders had to wrest it from its waterlogged site, protect it from floods, expel disease, and supply basic services using local resources. Colten shows how every manipulation of the environment made an impact on the city's social geography as well — often with unequal, adverse consequences for minorities — and how each still requires maintenance and improvement today.

Western Community Stewardship Forum.  Planning for Results Guidebook: Practical Advice for Building Successful Rural Communities. Tucson, Ariz.: Sonoran Institute, 2003.

County and other local government officials, planning commissioners, staff who do not have formal training in planning, and interested citizens can use this book as a starting point in designing and conducting a local planning process. Professional planners and students will find that it reminds them of basic principles, while offering new examples for study.

Ben-Joseph, Eran.  The Code of the City: Standards and the Hidden Language of Place Making. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2005.

Eran Ben-Joseph examines the relationship between standards and place making. He traces the evolution of codes and standards and analyzes their impact on the modern city and its suburbs, arguing that it is time for development regulations to reflect site-specific and localized physical design. Standards and codes were meant to bring order and safety to the city building process. But now, these accumulated rules and their widespread application illustrate a disconnect between the original rationale for their existence and their actual effect on the natural and human environment.

Saunders, William S., Ed. Sprawl and Suburbia. Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, 2005.

Along with an introduction by Robert Fishman, these essays call for architects, urban planners, and landscape designers to work at mitigating the impact of sprawl on land and resources and improving the residential and commercial built environment as a whole. In place of vast residential exurbs, these writers offer visions of a fresh urbanism — appealing and persuasive models of life at greater density, with greater diversity, and within genuine communities.

Soule, David C., Ed.  Urban Sprawl: A comprehensive Reference Guide.  Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2006.

The book delves into the challenges of urban sprawl by looking to some of America's top thinkers on the matter, including Robert Yaro, the President of the Regional Plan Association. Other cutting-edge articles include a preface about the emergence of sprawl by nationally syndicated columnist Neal Peirce, views about race and class by former mayor of Albuquerque David Rusk, and views from Curtis Johnson, president of the Citistates Group, about transportation dynamics.  Intended to introduce students and non-planners to the topic.

New, Cheryl Carter, and James Aaron Quick.  How to Write a Grant Proposal.  New York: Wiley, 2003.

Step-by-step guidance on how to write effective grants that get the funding. Complete with examples of fully-completed proposals, the book is packaged with easy-to-use companion CD-ROM containing guide sheets and templates that can be easily downloaded, customized, and printed.