Bird on Fire

Phoenix, Arizona is at once one of America's fastest growing cities and its least sustainable one. A sprawling megalopolis of more than five million souls, it is parched-the result of minimal rainfall and scorching heat. Yet historically, its population has been hostile to both placing limits on growth and restricting property rights. In Bird on Fire, noted chronicler of contemporary social life Andrew Ross relies on Phoenix's to perform a paradoxical task: explain how we can establish sustainable urban living in this most unsustainable of cities. The vast majority of authors writing on sustainable cities focus on places like Portland, New York, and various west European cities that have excellent public transit systems and high density. Ross does the opposite, and contends that if we can't make fast-growing cities like Phoenix sustainable, then the whole movement has a major problem.