Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk addressed this in Suburban Nation- The Rise and Decline of the American Dream: “The Federal highway planners of the fifties actually knew better than to bring highways into center cites, but they were out-lobbied by the big-city mayors, who wanted the U.S. highway money spent in their jurisdictions.” As a result, over six thousand miles of urban highway was added to the Federal Highway Act. Unfortunately American cities [[not just Detroit) have not learned their lesson because this is still happening.
Bookmarks