The North Atlantic Cities

What do Amsterdam, London, Brooklyn, Washington, Boston, and Philadelphia have in common? They are all North Atlantic cities. Charles Duff shows how the Dutch invented a new way of building cities in their “Golden Age,” the age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, and how the Dutch way of building became the normal way of building in the British Isles and on the East Coast of the United States. The key to the Dutch-style North Atlantic city is the row house, and Duff shows how the row house cities on both coasts of the ocean grew and continually adapted the Dutch inheritance to changing conditions – sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Today, as we look for ways to live satisfying lives with a low carbon footprint, the North Atlantic tradition provides a range of models that allow people to have spacious houses while supporting walking-distance retail and robust non-automotive transportation.