60 Years of Urban Change: Northeast

Post by Spooky23 » Sat, Jan 24, 2015, 4:09 AM UTC

pchristensen wrote: post #2

Wow. Pittsburgh, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and Providence are intense. See also - Midwest: http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/12/60yrsmidwest/ - Southeast: http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/18/60yrssoutheast/ - Oklahoma + Texas: http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/09/60years/

There's a TV special that will be available on the Albany PBS affiliate (WMHT) called the "Neighborhood that Disappeared" talking about the destruction wreaked on Albany.

They also had more plans for destroying the city that fell through when the unlimited Federal dollars ran out. See: http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2011/03/08/the-highway-that...

When you think about how small Albany is, the sheer scale of highways is ridiculous.

Post by potatolicious » Sat, Jan 24, 2015, 6:53 AM UTC

Ouch ouch ouch. It hurts just looking at these.

Besides the obvious complaint of freeways cutting willy-nilly through established cities, literally demolishing everything in its path, even the buildings suffered.

The gross misuse of outdoor space might be the second-greatest crime in American urban planning (after freeway culture). So many tight-knit neighborhoods and communities - tight streets full of activity and business - replaced with megalithic buildings surrounded by "plazas" and "parks" that fit neither description and are massive black holes devoid of human activity.

That Pittsburgh picture hurts the most. Roads lined with buildings replaced with vast concrete emptiness.

Rochester too - there is more parking lot and roadway west of the river than there are buildings! Disgusting.

And that Providence picture - if I didn't know better I'd think the after picture is after a war given how much has been absolutely leveled into flat ground.

Agh I can't look at this.

Re: 60 Years of Urban Change: Northeast

Re: 60 Years of Urban Change: Northeast