An incisive look at the consequences of today's costly and damaging suburban lifestyle

In The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome, Bloomberg News' John Wasik exposes the economic, cultural, environmental, and health problems underlying life in suburbia. Wasik provides powerful insights into how the U.S. suburban lifestyle has become unsustainable and what can be done to salvage it. His observations are firmly grounded in exclusive on-the-ground research, interviews with thought leaders, and the latest studies and statistics. The book

• Exposes the untold truths about suburban home ownership: green isn't always so green, life isn't cheaper after accounting for gas, water, and taxes, and modern suburban living isn't so idyllic considering the toll it takes on our health
• Includes exclusive research and analysis by experts in the field that debunks the many myths associated with suburban living
• Explores innovative solutions being developed in cities across the country

The American Dream of moving further from a city to buy a bigger house and find better schools has become a costly nightmare. The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome examines why and what can be done.

"John Wasik's The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome offers enough to chew on for three sets of teeth, enough to digest for three stomachs, and then alerts the mind faster than an approaching siren."
-RALPH NADER, consumer advocate

"Get ready for a totally original look at the American dream. Wasik delivers the first truly multidisciplinary examination-using planning, law, architecture, and history to focus on working solutions that keep the dream alive. This is a winner!"
-PAUL B. FARRELL, JD, PhD, columnist, MarketWatch.com, and author of The Millionaire Code

"This excellent book takes a ground-level look at the causes of our housing crisis and offers myriad ideas on reinventing the concepts of home and community."
-ILYCE R. GLINK, syndicated real estate columnist and author of 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask

"A genuine kick to the head, showing how our individual quests for the biggest house on the hill are destroying our environment, the economy, and our health. But The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome is no dead end. It offers a green, urbanized 'promised land' with real community, more free time, and a higher living standard. It's a masterful blueprint to unpave paradise and restore the world we cherish."
- AURENCE KOTLIKOFF, author of Jimmy Stewart Is Dead: Ending the World's Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose Banking