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In 1959 I drove from San Diego to NY, there were no interstates. A few states had built turnpikes, which were toll roads. The Penn turnpike was the first, others came later.
Would've loved to have lived in one of the major midwestern / northern cities during the 1940s. If for no other reason but to witness what life was life in urban America during war time.
Well it was just after WWII, but I was born in 1946 in Chicago so I was a kid partially in the 40's and then in the 50's. I get a laugh out of what people today call a "walkable neighborhood" believing these places to have the amenities and necessities of neighborhoods of the past. The urban neighborhoods back then were truly walkable with everything you could possibly want within walking distance of where one lived. That also included schools where kids could walk to.
I would say that besides all the reasons already being given here as to what happened, one of the main reasons was the fact that more people acquired cars who did not have them before the war. It make it easier to get to the 'burbs where houses were cheap. Having a car was the death knell for the little ma and pa stores that serviced the city neighborhoods because people didn't need to live near them any longer.
Well it was just after WWII, but I was born in 1946 in Chicago so I was a kid partially in the 40's and then in the 50's. I get a laugh out of what people today call a "walkable neighborhood" believing these places to have the amenities and necessities of neighborhoods of the past. The urban neighborhoods back then were truly walkable with everything you could possibly want within walking distance of where one lived. That also included schools where kids could walk to.
I would say that besides all the reasons already being given here as to what happened, one of the main reasons was the fact that more people acquired cars who did not have them before the war. It make it easier to get to the 'burbs where houses were cheap. Having a car was the death knell for the little maand pa stores that serviced the city neighborhoods because people didn't need to live near them any longer.
Just one factor but I think one worth mentioning.
Good post. Cars and the freeways built to accommodate them were very destructive of city neighborhoods. A good example is the Cross-Bronx Expressway in New York City. It obliterated solid working class neighborhoods like East Tremont and blighted every area it passed through.
Well it was just after WWII, but I was born in 1946 in Chicago so I was a kid partially in the 40's and then in the 50's. I get a laugh out of what people today call a "walkable neighborhood" believing these places to have the amenities and necessities of neighborhoods of the past. The urban neighborhoods back then were truly walkable with everything you could possibly want within walking distance of where one lived. That also included schools where kids could walk to.
I would say that besides all the reasons already being given here as to what happened, one of the main reasons was the fact that more people acquired cars who did not have them before the war. It make it easier to get to the 'burbs where houses were cheap. Having a car was the death knell for the little ma and pa stores that serviced the city neighborhoods because people didn't need to live near them any longer.
Just one factor but I think one worth mentioning.
Exactly! When I was a kid in Portland in the early 60s we had at least 4 ma & pa grocery stores a block in any direction. Now we only find them in densely populated cities like SF & NYC.
Exactly! When I was a kid in Portland in the early 60s we had at least 4 ma & pa grocery stores a block in any direction. Now we only find them in densely populated cities like SF & NYC.
And they were expensive, had poor and outdated merchandise.
They do not. During the 1980s, when Washington D.C. was a basket case, the Maryland and Virginia suburbs thrived. When NYC was a war zone, NJ businesses prospered; with NYC thriving, many NJ suburbs have actually suffered loss of businesses. The suburbs of Baltimore are doing quite well; Baltimore city is not -- this pattern is seen more strongly in Detroit.
Washington DC suburbs are still thriving. In the 1970s, NYC suburbs didn't do that great, either. NYC suburbs haven't seen as much job growth as the city, but many are rather affluent and few haven't become poorer.
Well it was just after WWII, but I was born in 1946 in Chicago so I was a kid partially in the 40's and then in the 50's. I get a laugh out of what people today call a "walkable neighborhood" believing these places to have the amenities and necessities of neighborhoods of the past. The urban neighborhoods back then were truly walkable with everything you could possibly want within walking distance of where one lived. That also included schools where kids could walk to.
Would you say that's true of neighborhoods of Chicago today described as walkable compared to when you grew up in them. I doubt NYC neighborhoods have changed much in that regard.
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