Midwest Cities Eviscerated By Expressways & "Urban Renewal": 1950 vs. Today sliders

Steely Dan · #1 Posted **Dec 12, 2014, 10:36 PM**

are you ready for your friday afternoon buzzkill?

check out the 1950 vs. Today sliders in the following link to see the destruction wrought by urban expressways (and their subsequent parking lots) and "urban renewal" in midwest city cores over the past 6 decades.

http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/12/60yrsmidwest/

so much destruction.

we hear a lot about urban resurgence in US cities these days, which is certainly wonderful news, but think about how little resurgence we would actually need if we didn't do so much damage to our cities in the first place.

we fucked up. we fucked up BAD.

MonkeyRonin · #2 Posted **Dec 12, 2014, 11:50 PM**

These really confirm my belief that Cincinnati was America's biggest urban loss (sure, there were others that saw more destruction, but what was there to begin with wasn't of the same value).

Keeping in the theme of this thread, here's a map that compares 1947 Toronto with 2013: http://peoplemaps.esri.com/toronto/ (click on 1947 to get the aerial view)

Buckeye Native 001 · #3 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 12:08 AM**

That picture of Downtown Cincinnati before/after the construction of Fort Washington Way along the riverfront isn't even the worst. I don't have a copy available, but the construction of I-75 through the west side of Downtown and the Mill Creek Valley was far worse.

Besides, while Fort Washington Way destroyed some historic structures, that area was highly prone to flooding. That said, its an eyesore and hopefully its capped to better connect Downtown to the Riverfront soon.

MolsonExport · #4 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 3:15 AM**

Criminal. Shameful. Horrible.

MayDay · #5 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 3:27 AM**

"we fucked up. we fucked up BAD."

Who are "we"? Most of this bullshit happened before I was born and I'm not exactly a spring chicken.

Steely Dan · #6 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 3:33 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MayDay

Who are "we"?

Our automobile-enslaved American society.

fflint · #7 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 4:14 AM**

Well, that's depressing.

I demand answers. *turns to MayDay*

MayDay! How could you? How could you be so destructive with our cities? Boo, hiss!

dave8721 · #8 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 4:29 AM**

Click on the "Oklahoma/Texas" link and look at Oklahoma City. There is like 1 block that wasn't destroyed.

pdxtex · #9 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 4:54 AM**

im not sure if id use the word eviscerated. the cinnci one looked kind of sad though. cleveland and indy looked ok though and still seem way urban to me. alot of that land probably got cleared in the 70s post white flight in some of those pics. but yeah, parking lot mayhem.....

ColDayMan · #10 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 5:27 AM**

What's interesting about that Queensgate photo of Cincinnati (west of downtown) is that the actual I-75 may have partially killed that neighborhood but what really killed it was the light-industrial warehouse boxes built for I-75 afterwards.

As for the Columbus one, it's sad to see half the German Village (middle-right side) destroyed for...parking lots and low-rise crap.

ConstructDTLA · #11 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 6:09 AM**

Painful to see

MayDay · #12 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 3:55 PM**

"Our automobile-enslaved American society."

Don't get me wrong, the images are gruesome and in Cleveland's case, it could have been much worse (google Albert S. Porter). That said, I'm in a car-lite household and I haven't personally owned a car for twelve years, so please leave me out of the group self-flagellation.

Steely Dan · #13 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 5:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MayDay

"Our automobile-enslaved American society."

Don't get me wrong, the images are gruesome and in Cleveland's case, it could have been much worse (google Albert S. Porter). That said, I'm in a car-lite household and I haven't personally owned a car for twelve years, so please leave me out of the group self-flagellation.

Too bad , every American is a part of our awful American society. We once had awesome cities built for people, then a bunch of post-war shit-for-brains told us that in order to save our cities we first had to destroy them. We did it to our damn selves. No american city has ever been the victim of aerial bombardment, but you wouldn't guess that looking at some of these pics.

AMERICA, Fuck No!

M II A II R II K · #14 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 5:08 PM**

There's that Hartford travesty, and a Buffalo slider would be too devastating to view.

iheartthed · #15 Posted **Dec 13, 2014, 10:31 PM**

In the Detroit "before" photo, you can actually see the process starting. There is significant land clearing visible in the upper left side of the overhead shot for what would eventually become the Lodge Freeway (M-10, state highway).

niwell · #16 Posted **Dec 14, 2014, 8:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

These really confirm my belief that Cincinnati was America's biggest urban loss (sure, there were others that saw more destruction, but what was there to begin with wasn't of the same value).

Keeping in the theme of this thread, here's a map that compares 1947 Toronto with 2013: http://peoplemaps.esri.com/toronto/ (click on 1947 to get the aerial view)

Agreed on Cincinnati. That's grim. Love that mapping tool you posted (I post it whenever I get a chance) - really hits home how little Toronto lost in the big scheme of things. I mean we had some bad urban renewal, and the Gardiner took out a chunk of South Parkdale. But all in all it was nothing compared to some of those examples.

Centropolis · #17 Posted **Dec 14, 2014, 7:59 PM**

this is an example of the housing stock demolished in the 1950s west of downtown, the skyline is the midtown skyline. the area became known as "hiroshima flats" after the area was cleared. at least 20,000 residents were displaced when this neighborhood was eviscerated. st. louis also seemed to be sort of a foreshadowing of the twentieth century polycentric city, but built on a mid 19th to early 20th century skeleton.

st louis post-dispatch

Austinlee · #18 Posted **Dec 14, 2014, 9:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Centropolis

this is an example of the housing stock demolished in the 1950s west of downtown, the skyline is the midtown skyline. the area became known as "hiroshima flats" after the area was cleared. at least 20,000 residents were displaced when this neighborhood was eviscerated. st. louis also seemed to be sort of a foreshadowing of the twentieth century polycentric city, but built on a mid 19th to early 20th century skeleton.

st louis post-dispatch

Austinlee · #19 Posted **Dec 14, 2014, 9:21 PM**

From what I can tell, overall Detroit, then St. Louis then maybe Cincinnati lost the largest percentage of urban fabric.

Other cities that lost large swaths include: Most American cities.

Centropolis · #20 Posted **Dec 14, 2014, 9:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinlee

From what I can tell, overall Detroit, then St. Louis then maybe Cincinnati lost the largest percentage of urban fabric.

Other cities that lost large swaths include: Most American cities.

i'd like to see some street level shots of inner detroit. st. louis lost most of its 19th century inner city but there are solid remnants like soulard that have preserved enough to know what the old city might have been like. an entire vernacular appears to have gone extinct in detroit, however.