An expert view of the live-work explosion

In 1988 in Oakland, California, Thomas Dolan designed what is said to be the first new-construction live-work community created in the US since the Great Depression. It was called South Prescott Village, and was the first of many live-work projects that Dolan, an architect in Oakland, has designed. Now Dolan has put together an enormously knowledgable guide, Live-Work Planning and Design: Zero Commute Housing. The generously illustrated 251-page book from Wiley advocates live-work, but also tells how to avoid its pitfalls—such as isolation—by including courtyards and other spaces where residents will encounter one another. See article and June issue.

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