MODERN AMERICAN CITIES

This is an urban, occasionally urbane, anthology, nicely introduced by the editor, which spreads itself too thin to have a pointed thrust. Prominent piece-writers include James Reston, Richard L. Neuberger; Robert Coles, Thomas P. F. Hoving, and John F. Kennedy. The first section, ""Boomtowns and Placid Places,"" surveys Flint, Washington, L.A. vs. S.F., Juneau, and Houston, pointing up how size can be too great or too small and growth can be too fast or too slow. ""Some Characteristics of Cities"" contains such diverse items as a report on the 1871 Chicago fire, an analysis of Detroit's Motown sound, a day on the job with Fiorello LaGuardia, and a look at the Southern Negro migration to the North. The final section, ""Toward the Future of Cities,"" features Hull House today, a Quaker rehabilitation project, vest-pocket parks, urban underrepresentation, Habitat at Expo '67, and reviews of a Frank Lloyd Wright and a Lewis Mumford book. Entertaining but not essential reading for city scanners.