Quote:
Originally Posted by Handro
It’s not just Phoenix, most American cities were decimated by urban renewal and the migration of families to the auto-centric suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s.
Check this out: http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/12/60yrsmidwest/
In Chicago, entire neighborhoods full of dense urbanity were destroyed to make way for the expressway and parking lots. |
Agree about assessment of Phoenix. While Chicago suffer because of expressway building, it was unfortunately the African American neighborhoods south of downtown that bore the brunt of the destruction. I think that was the case for most expressway building in major cities. Back to Phoenix, the city basically sprawled, like most Southern cities. Just look at places like Houston and Dallas, which have downtowns that really are not hugely vibrant except for work days or even important expect for office and a few entertainment/sports venues compared to the whole metropolitan area.
An interesting comparison to Phoenix would be Denver, which seems to have a more lively and important downtown. Is it because Denver is an older city or because it was a regional powerhouse while Phoenix was mostly a retirement and tourist place?