A Paradise of Small Houses

The Evolution, Devolution, and Potential Rebirth of Urban Housing

By: Max Podemski

Narrated by: Rob Greenbaum

From the Haitian-style “shotgun” houses of the 19th century to the lavish high-rises of the 21st century, a walk through the streets of America’s neighborhoods that reveals the rich history—and future—of urban housing

The Philadelphia row house. The New York tenement. The Boston triple-decker. Every American city has its own iconic housing style, structures that have been home to generations of families and are symbols of identity and pride. Max Podemski, an urban planner for the city of Los Angeles and lifelong architecture buff, has spent his career in and around these buildings. Deftly combining his years of experience with extensive research, Podemski walks the listener through the history of our dwelling spaces—and offers a blueprint for how time-tested urban planning models can help us build the homes the United States so desperately needs.

In A Paradise of Small Houses, Podemski charts how these dwellings have evolved over the centuries according to the geography, climate, population, and culture of each city. He introduces the listeners to styles like Chicago’s prefabricated workers cottages and LA’s car-friendly dingbats, illuminating the human stories behind each city’s iconic housing type. Through it all, Podemski interrogates the American values that have equated home ownership with success and led to the US housing crisis, asking, “How can we look to the past to build the homes, neighborhoods, and cities of the future that our communities deserve?”

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Max Podemski (P)2024 Beacon Press

Critic reviews

“The real treat is Mr. Podemski’s histories of each building type, which trace the interplay of engineering, economics, culture and even morality. . . .This is a valuable book despite such small flaws. At a moment when housing-policy battles can seem deadlocked, 'A Paradise of Small Houses' conveys a tonic sense of what is, or has been, possible.”—Timothy Farrington, Wall Street Journal

“Through this beautifully written and illustrated rich history of everyday houses that form our communities and neighborhoods, Max Podemski shares an insightful account of American cities and their urban development that will greatly appeal to architects, urban designers, planners, historians, housing advocates, and urbanists interested in just cities.”—Vinit Mukhija, author of Remaking the American Dream: The Informal and Formal Transformation of Single-Family Housing Cities

“If you love visiting, exploring, and thinking about American cities as much as I do, A Paradise of Small Houses is an indispensable travel companion. With this book, Max Podemski has fashioned a fantastic new lens through which to view the history and politics of redlining, zoning, housing affordability, urban design, and so much more. But mainly, the book is just plain fun.”—Ray Delahanty, creator of CityNerd

Informative. Fun to listen to

This book delivers a fascinating and entertaining view of the histories and realities of small housing spaces. How they came about, influenced lifestyles, and evolved. The narration is pleasant to listen to, with minimal and subtle inflections to highlight the commentary making it fun and easy to listen to.

Interesting history of the history of the development of affordable housing throughout US history.

It highlights the effects of both over regulation and under regulation of different periods in history. Most of the development was driven by immigrants and workers, who, left to their own devices created vibrant communities with a strong social fabric. What I got out from the book is a sense that we have gotten away from valuing the closeness and emotional ties to an interrelated community in favor of bigger, fancier and more isolated homes. Developers of affordable homes are incentivized to build as cheaply as possible and avoid accountability for the externalities that result. I had wished for more ideas or strategies for building communities that are more cohesive and supportive, and homes that are durable and livable. The narration was terrific! I could listen to it all day. In fact I did.

Insightful, informative, excellent narration

As a city dweller, I enjoyed imagining what everyday life was like throughout history. I learned a lot about our anthropology through the lens of urban housing. I thought it was interesting, well-researched, and the narration is superb. Easy to listen to and very satisfying inflection and pronunciation performance. 10/10 would recommend.

meh nothing that great

didn’t really learn anything new. it’s kind of basic. why Vancouver?? that’s urban skyscrapers nothing clever