GHOST TOWNS ANDSEGREGATED CITIES
Construction of the interstates went full speed ahead.
As parts of the interstates were completed and former busy roads, especially U.S. Highways, saw people driving on them drop to nearly zero, many small communities died out and even became ghost towns.
Another aspect of the interstates, especially in the larger cities, was of a social impact nature. The new highway layouts appeared to follow the pattern of Jim Crow America, further segregating Blacks.
The Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago, which runs from downtown south to Indiana was used to separate public housing, leaving a black area on one side with a white area on the other. To make matters worse, many existing black communities along the routes were destroyed in order to make room for the new expressways. Ultimately families were displaced and forced to move into crowded ghettos.
At the same time, the highways were losing popularity among some Americans and as damaging aspects of the projects became known, many white Americans fought to keep them out of their communities (Illinois Highway 53 in the Chicago suburbs is an example of that).
Many local economies were also hurt as a result of the national interstate highway system, when motorists who once stopped in their communities for conveniences on their way to their final destinations were now bypassing these places.
The Bad With the Good. --RoadDog
No comments:
Post a Comment