Cities and their failures?

[citylove101]

Here are two big historic mistakes in NYC

Construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway, which is now I-95 in NYC, destroyed several stable, working-class Bronx neighborhoods and is widely considered a big factor in hastening the decline of the South Bronx.

Destruction of of the old Penn Station near Herald Sq in favor of a nondescript office building, a dysfunctional and horrible place for train passengers now, and an uber-ugly Madison Sq Garden. The razing of beautiful old Penn Station was so egregious it was the impetus for the city's landmark law that started the historic preservation movement here. And worse, as train travel on the NE corridor and to the suburbs has since become more important, the new Penn Station has proven almost totally inadequate, and talks are ongoing about how to replace it.

[280Tony]

A few in AL. Many misfortunates rather than failure:

Birmingham:

The great airport bungle. Delta (and along the way, several other airlines) were looking for a new hub home and were considering Birmingham and Atlanta. Bham was larger at the time, but made a fatal error in raising aviation fuel tax in the 1940s and did not pursue Delta very diligently. Atlanta, on the other hand, rolled out the red carpet for the eager airline and the rest is history. Hartsfield-Jackson became what it is today and propelled the city of Atlanta into the economic stratosphere, leaving Birmingham in the dust.

Montgomery:

Perhaps this would not have ultimately mattered much, but when Montgomery lost the Confederate capital to Richmond, it lost a host of economic opportunity that Richmond benefitted from. And while there is no indication that Montgomery would have grown into what Richmond is today (more than likely, it would not have), there is no denying that Montgomery would have faired better during Reconstruction had much of the industry that was necessarily established Richmond stayed in Alabama. 20th century Montgomery may have retained vestiges of the Civil-War-precipitated shipping and manufacturing presence, and at the very least, would be on better economic footing today.

Mobile:

The original capital of French Louisiana, Mobile was earmarked and primed to become the major city and port for the French crown's colonial presence in America. An unfortunate introduction of yellow fever to Mobile forced the colonists to uproot and relocate further west along the coast, next to Biloxi, and ultimately to New Orleans. Had Mobile not been riddled with disease and remained the capital, the port and city would have experienced centuries of Caribbean / European / and south American influence and commerce - possibly becoming what New Orleans eventually became.

[spencer114]

Industry wasn't established in Richmond to support the war effort. It was already in place. Those armories,
shipyards and munitions factories were in place before the war. Richmond was already one of (if not the) biggest industrial centers in the South at the time of the war. Around these parts we feel that having been the capital was bad for Richmond. Reconstruction wasn't as kind to Richmond as was to other cities in the South. Payback is, as they say, hell.