Need a reading recommendation

Friends, I'm looking for a source to quote in some of our propaganda-- someone who's written extensively (preferably brilliantly) about the loss of sense of community in big cities. The more modern the better.

Please respond in the comments thread of this post. Thanks!

Comments

[Len LaCara]

The first name that comes to mind is Robert D. Putnam, who wrote "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community." Here are links to Amazon and Putnam's Web site. "Americans are right that the bonds of our communities have withered," he says, "and we are right to fear that this transformation has very real costs."

[Adrian Holovaty]

Jane Jacobs, perhaps?

[Brendan Watson]

I agree with Len. Great book! Joe Trippi's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" also has an interesting perspective on civic engagement and the Net.

[Joe Zekas]

Christopher Lasch. The Culture of Narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations

[Lex]

What Len said. I first read Putnam's essay (later expanded into a book) a decade ago, and it changed how I went about my work.