By William H. Fain. Glendale, California: Balcony Press, 2012, 160 pages, $35. In this thoughtful and concise new book, William Fain answers the question in his title by anticipating that his car, given the opportunity, would ask, “Why do you make such a fuss over me? Why do people spend so much of their resources on me? Why do architects and city planners give such high priority to me in their designs for neighborhoods and downtowns?” Using his home city Los Angeles as an example in a series of linked essays, Fain describes how the car—having dominated past urban development

Three new books by thoughtful architect-urbanists, usefully read together, explore the current state of urban design. Each author investigates historic and current trends in the evolution of specific American locations, and posits approaches for responding to local character and shaping future growth. Click the image above for details about each book mentioned in this review. Lars Lerup left his native Sweden to come to America in 1966, and has lived in Houston for over 20 years, serving as dean at the Rice School of Architecture from 1993 to 2009.  In One Million Acres and No Zoning, he notes the implications