When I was a teenager in the early 80's, I would regularly drive from my home in Mississippi to visit my Grandparents in Lynn Haven, Florida. Back then U.S. Highway 98 from just east of San Destin all the way to the bridge just west of Laguna Beach was a 2-laned highway crawling with Florida Highway Patrol and other law enforcement just laying in wait for speeders. Furthermore, the speed limit was 55 mph and you'd always end up behind someone who just can't go faster than 50 and with so much oncoming traffic there's no place to pass. so one time, utilizing a map (pre mapquest, folks), I decided to take county road 30-A which I found out hugged the beach most of the way and actually was several mile SHORTER than the U.S. 98 section I avoided and dreaded. And I also found that it was lightly travelled, was mostly straight-aways and best of all, little to no law enforcement (mostly no law enforcement -- in the over 15 years of driving that route, I saw a county Sheriff's Deputy only twice). So i could lead-foot it all the way and end up cutting off between 30-45 minutes of my overall driving time.

So what does his have to do with the book in question: Seaside?

Bear with me...

In 1979 or 1980 (I forget which year) I noticed a couple of small tin-roofed houses being built which intrigued me because they were different than most other homes along the route. Over time more homes of a similar nature were built eventually to be named "Seaside" with originally a small, simple hand-made sign to mark the burgeoning community's name. As it grew, the simple sign was replaced with a nicely carved wooden sign and had some little shops too which caused me to stop and check it out. Turns out the originator of this community, Robert Davis, wanted to create a community reminicent of the summer houses he of which he was familiar as a youth. Furthermore, he wanted to make the community be cozy and have everything necessary within walking distance of whereever you were within the community. I found out later that this planning strategy is called "neo urbanism."

I picked up this book while visiting Seaside in the 90's (soon after it was initially printed) with my wife and it documents its history, its charm and its plan in both words and pictures. It gives an interesting overview of Davis' vision as well as a historical look at Seaside's humble beginnings (of which I was fortunate enough to witness albeit as a passer-through). The photography in this book is beautiful and gives a great overview of what Seaside looked like from its inception to the mid-90's. It has grown quite a bit since then and I do not know if the book has been republished and updated or if a completely new book has replaced this one. However if you are an architectural afficianado or are interested in designing your own beach-style home, this book definitely offers plenty of ideas. And if you are into neo-urbanism (a.k.a. - new urbanism), this book is good documentation of one of the best known examples of this form of urban planning. I highly recommend this book for not only the professional in planning and architecture but for the casual observer (like me) as well. ( )