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Highways: Invisible Fault Lines in America’s Social Fabric Anshul Bhatnagar Individual Paper Senior Division

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Highways: Invisible Fault Lines in America’s Social Fabric

Anshul Bhatnagar

Individual Paper

Senior Division

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"It's not a question of if [the highway] should be torn down. The question is when will it be torn down. [Syracuse] was a city divided. In fact, I immediately, at that time ... called [the highway] the 'Berlin Wall.’"

Van Robinson NPR

July 2012 Introduction:

In 1956, the United States Congress passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, a

decision that would change the social and economic landscape of America forever. By

dedicating 26 billion dollars for the creation of a national highway system, this bill

ensured that the American people would be able to travel quickly and easily from coast to

coast using state of the art highways. After the highways were built, more and more

people started driving across the country, and the interactions and exchanges between

people from different parts of the country went up exponentially. This was to be expected

as explorations invariably lead to increased encounters and exchanges between people

from different regions. For instance, when Christopher Columbus discovered the “New

World”, he sparked an era of trade, warfare, and interaction between the Native

Americans and Europeans. Marco Polo’s expeditions into the Far East led to increased

encounters and exchanges between citizens of Europe, China and the Middle East.

However, while the highways increased encounters between citizens across the

country, they surprisingly decreased encounters between citizens within a city. The

creation of suburbs and the increase in automobile ownership, facilitated by highways,

split neighborhoods, divided racial groups, and isolated commuters. By promoting new

types of living habits, city structures, and transportation, highways decreased encounters

and exchanges between different segments of citizens in a city. This unintended

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consequence of highways had a devastating effect on our society, and needs to be studied

in detail.

Background:

While the need for a national highway system had been felt for many years, the

different reasons for its creation simultaneously gained urgency in the mid-fifties of last

century. One of the driving factors was the number of cars on the road. Cars started being

mass produced only in early 1900s, but by 1950s their number had zoomed to 55 million

(Loss Caused By). The pre-highway road network was a patchwork of narrow mostly

single-lane streets, which frequently crisscrossed each other, and was embedded with

speed obstacles, such as traffic lights and stop signs. As the number of cars increased,

they clogged this archaic road network; the frequency of traffic jams and road accidents

shot up and the need for a better road system became a crying need (Wider Roads For).

Second driving factor arose due to the end of World War II and Korea War. After the

wars, the US army started disbanding its soldiers and returning them to civilian life,

creating an urgent need to find employment for thousands of these disbanded soldiers.

During the Depression, the government successfully created mass employment through

public works project, and the government in the 50s wanted to follow a similar path and

setup a public works project for the war veterans. The highways looked like a good

public works project as it could generate employment all over the country.

The third and probably the dominant reason has to be the ascent of Dwight

Eisenhower as the President of USA in 1953. President Eisenhower was firmly convinced

of the absolute necessity of highways, due to two life-changing experiences. First, when

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he was a young Army officer, he was involved in the Army’s first Transcontinental

Motor Convoy that traveled across the US by automobile. He personally witnessed the

dilapidated state of roads where vehicles got stuck, and bridges that failed under heavy

load (Eisenhower, Report on Transcontinental Trip). Second, while leading the Allied

Army in Germany, he saw the highly efficient German highway system, the Autobahn,

and was greatly impressed by it. As a military commander, he realized the defense value

of an efficient highway system (Eisenhower, At Ease, 166). Eisenhower got a chance to

fulfill his vision of a national highway system when he became the President in 1953.

Immediately after his election, he set up a commission to study the pros and cons of

building a highway network, but his inclination was clear by his choice of Lucius Clay as

the chairman of the committee. Lucius Clay was a director at General Motors, a company

that was guaranteed to benefit from improvement in the quality of highways, and

therefore his decision was in favor of highways (Jackson 249).

A number of highway acts had been passed in the period 1920 - 1950, but they all

failed because they had no funds earmarked specifically for building highways (The

Interstate Highway System). The Act of 1956 turned out to be effective because it had

expressly assigned $26 billion for the construction of a national highway network, with

the federal government assuming responsibility for 90% of it, and the states for the other

10% (National and Interstate). To convince the members of Congress to spend such a

large amount of money, President Eisenhower wrote a letter to them listing out the

reasons why a national network is needed: reduce accident rates, transportation costs,

traffic congestions, and increase the mobility of the army in the event of an atomic attack

(Eisenhower, Letter to Congress). In the following years, the highways achieved these

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four goals successfully, but more than that, impacted American life in myriad other ways.

From influencing city structures, retailing to environment, the highways had many

unintended consequences, some of which unfortunately led to decreased interactions

between citizens.

Suburbs – Decreasing Encounters between Neighbors

The industrial growth of the eighteenth century led to city structures that were

anchored to factories. The factories generated lots of soot, smoke, flyash and other highly

harmful pollutants that were dispersed into the areas surrounding the factories. But these

were also the areas where the workers of the factories lived as they had to live within

walking distance of the factories. Moreover, these pollutants smelled dreadful (Edey

156). The workers could escape these harmful living conditions by living far from the

factories, but before the automobile era, it would have required hours of walking.

The early nineteenth century witnessed the development of public transportation

and the invention of the automobile technology. These twin developments made it

possible to live in the suburbs, but still suburbs remained unpopular because of the

archaic road system (An Overview of Suburbanization). With mass production, prices of

cars dropped and it became possible for middle class America to own cars, but most

citizens still vacillated in committing to suburban life, as commuting time on the old

roads, due to frequent stop signs and congestion, was high (Mohl 10). The new highway

system dramatically reduced the commuting time, and made it possible to live in suburbs.

Consequently, the number of suburbs went up exponentially (Changing Face). “We are

mushrooming,” as one citizen put it, when his suburb population went up by 16% in a

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year (Lueck). Throughout history, the proportion of population living in cities had

increased due to more and more people taking up industrial jobs that were located in

cities. After the construction of highways, the proportion of population living in cities

started decreasing, and in suburbs started increasing (Baum-Snow 1).

The growth of suburban living led to the exploration of new types of housing

structures, which subsequently led to decrease in encounters between neighbors. Houses

in the suburbs are fundamentally different than those in cities. Suburban houses are

usually designed for single-families as opposed to city houses, such as apartments and

tenement houses, which are designed for multiple families to live together (Baum-Snow

8-9). Apartments and tenement houses are common in cities, but rare in suburbs

(Rybczynski and Linneman 3). The houses in suburbs also tend to have much bigger

yards, which have the effect of physically moving houses (and the people living inside

them) away from each other.

Before migration to the suburbs was made possible, people lived in close

communication with their neighbors, as they were in constant contact with them. When

people live in apartments or tenement houses, they share common spaces, such as

stairwells, yards, rooftops, basements, and have no choice but to interact with each other

every time they go out of their houses. Not only that, there is very little privacy as

neighbors can easily hear each other through open windows and common walls. The

neighbors know each other, and their problems. This creates a much closer community.

The new types of houses in the suburbs physically isolate neighbors from each other by

removing any opportunity to interact. This led to communities where neighbors did not

interact with each other, and the sense of community was lost forever. Thus, while the

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highways led to the exploration of new types of city and housing structures, it also led to

decreased encounters between neighbors, and the loss of community feeling.

(See Appendix B).

Segregation – Decreasing Interracial Encounters

Despite the best efforts of civil rights activists who fought hard to end racial

segregation, America remained largely segregated well into the middle of last century.

Then, in the mid-twentieth century, civil rights advocates won some important victories.

For example, the Supreme Court’s momentous decision in Brown vs. Board of Education

ended racial segregation in colleges and schools. At this point in time, it appeared that the

momentum of the civil rights movement would eventually lead to our cities becoming

racially integrated (Orfield and Eaton 13). However, the establishment of highways,

unexpectedly, reversed this progress and led to a decrease in interracial encounters.

During the construction of the freeways, on an average thirty-seven thousand

people were forced to relocate annually in order to clear space for the construction of

highways (Mohl, Raymond. Urban Expressways 2) (see Appendix A). The freeways

were almost always routed through the city slums, which were mostly inhabited by racial

minorities such as Latinos and African-Americans (Swift 229). Local and state

governments often tried to justify this by arguing that land there was inexpensive (Mohl,

Raymond. Urban Expressways 28). However, secretly local governments chose land to

build highways based on the racial composition of inhabitants. For example, politicians

of Baltimore decided to construct a costlier freeway through African-American

communities, rather than a cheaper one through white neighborhoods (Swift 266).

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Dislodged citizens, who were mostly racial minorities, were then forced to move

to urban areas mostly populated by whites, as most minorities were not wealthy enough

to relocate to suburban areas. Whites, who were most often much wealthier than other

races, generally responded to the presence of these new neighbors by moving out to

suburban areas, a move made possible by the highways (Super 450). This phenomenon

has now been termed “white flight.”

In exceptional cases, when African-Americans moved to the suburbs, violent riots

often broke out. Many suburban residents took drastic actions to discourage blacks from

moving there. For example, in Levittown, a New York City suburb, blacks were

forbidden to purchase homes (Mead). One black leader even termed residents of white

suburbs “the real enemies,” due to their intense discriminatory behavior against

minorities (All White Suburbs). In the rare cases when blacks were permitted to reside in

the suburbs, they accounted for a very small percentage of the total suburban population.

For example, not even 1% of the population was black in many suburbs of Milwaukee

(Milwaukee Fights State). This unfortunate trend continues even to this day. Although, in

the city, 38% of the population is black, in suburban areas only 7% of the population is

black, a depressing indicator of the segregation facilitated by the interstate highways

(Rawlings 5).

By separating whites from other races, the highways decreased interracial

exchanges and encounters. People from different races rarely interact with each other, as

they usually live and work in separate places. Thus, the highways greatly changed the

racial makeup of American cities. Before the construction of the highways, our cities

were gradually becoming integrated. However, the construction of the highways led to

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the reversal of this movement and the creation of intensely segregated cities, where

whites dominate the suburbs and the minorities the city centers (Mohl 4).

Decline of Public Transport – Decreasing Encounters between Commuters

Before the birth of modern transport systems, workers had to walk to their

workplaces. By the early 20th century, the development of streetcars led to easier and

faster commuting. The years afterwards were marked by the rising popularity of mass

transit. In addition, the variety of public transportation options available to commuters,

such as, intercity railways, buses, and streetcars, increased rapidly. The era of mass

transit finally lost favor towards the latter half of the twentieth century, as cars and

freeways became more popular (Singleton 384). This development led to a decrease in

encounters between commuters, as cars were designed for individual use, while public

transportation was designed for use by multiple people and forced a variety of individuals

to interact with each other.

The increasing suburban population thus facilitated the decline of public

transportation, as it cannot remain economically viable in areas with low population

densities. Mass transit, such as intercity railways, is specifically intended to transport a

large number of people in a single trip (Fink and Taylor 10). In general, public

transportation is costly; only when utilized by many people is public transportation

cheaper, as this spreads the high operating costs over a larger customer base. In suburban

areas, the inhabitants are spread out over a larger area, thus decreasing population density

(Swift 239). The freeways also lowered the workplace density, such as those factories, by

allowing them to move out of urban locations and into the suburbs, as well. The

Presidential Advisory Committee declared, “The nation’s highways have been able to

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disperse our factories, our stores, our people, in short creating a revolution in living

habits” (Shipler). Thus, as both population and office densities declined in urban and

suburban areas, public transportation systems have not been able to garner enough users

in order to stay economically feasible in many cities (Swift 239).

In addition, mainly travelers who do not own automobiles use public

transportation. Living in the suburbs forces one to own a car, and thus suburban

inhabitants will not usually use mass transit. One public transportation business owner

angrily declared, “And where have these commuters gone? Most of them are riding in a

car in from suburbia and sitting bumper to bumper on the most magnificent highways

money can buy” (Rothberg). The use of automobiles instead of public transportation led

to a decrease in encounters between people. In buses, trains, and streetcars, patrons had

the opportunity to interact with each other. However, cars were not designed to transport

many people, and users lost the opportunity to interact with others while traveling,

thereby decreasing encounters. The highways thus led to the exploration of new ways of

commuting that led to a decrease in encounters between citizens.

Conclusion

Over the latter half of the 20th century, the highways have led to the exploration of

new ways of living, and commuting. These explorations increased encounters between

people in different geographic regions. However, by dividing communities, highways

have also, arguably, isolated Americans. While they did connect America, thereby

allowing for faster travel and communication with other regions, they did this from a

city-to-city perspective. On a grand scale, highways may have brought us closer together.

However, at a micro scale, the highways have brought us further apart through promoting

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new modes of housing and commuting. These developments have thereby created a

distinctly American culture, one dominated by automobiles and suburbia. The variety of

ways the highways have changed America only assure us of one thing: the highways have

transformed the very fabric of America. Since its construction, the highways have

touched almost every aspect of our lives. Even though, highways have provided several

advantages, it has come at a great cost to our sense of community. These problems

caused by the splitting of neighborhoods due to the highways, thus, may never be

resolved.

Word Count: 2488

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Appendix A: Destruction Caused by Building of the Highways

Source: http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/107211/116784.jpg Caption: This aerial photo of a highway being constructed in Detroit, Michigan clearly shows how highways cut straight into the heart of cities. Previously, all the land that the highway now sits on, used to have businesses and homes. All those buildings had to be demolished and its owners and residents relocated to make space for these roads. Usually, these lands were often homes and business owned by racial minorities, thus harming them the most.

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Appendix B: Neighborly Contact in Urban vs. Suburban Areas

Sources: 1. http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/wp-

content/uploads/new_york_crowded_street.jpg 2. http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2013/12/1950s-Levittown-AB.jpeg

Captions: Clearly, one can see that in the first photo, in crowded urban areas, there is much more contact between people. Many people are packed into a crowded area, and thus there will be more encounters and exchanges in this type of urban environment. In the second photo of a traditional suburban area, one can see the houses and buildings are much more spread out. This suburban environment makes it harder to have an environment where there is a lot of encounters and exchanges between residents.

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Works Cited:

Primary Sources:

"The 1950s." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.

<http://www.history.com/topics/1950s>.

I used a photo from this website to help show a picture of suburbia in Appendix

A. It is clear by contrasting the two photos in this appendix that suburban

environments lead to a decrease in encounters and exchanges between neighbors

as homes and businesses are more spread out from each other.

"'All-White Suburbs Our Real Enemies,' Black Leader Says." Chicago Tribune

[Chicago] 23 Apr. 1970, W2: n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/169074069/13BA447ACA57A51E79B/1

?accountid=285>.

This piece from the Chicago Tribune discusses an African-American leader who

declared all-white suburbs to be “the real enemies.” This person found the

relatively peaceful citizens who resided in the suburbs to be worse than the Ku

Klux Klansmen or other members of white supremacy groups. This piece showed

me that suburbs were actually very discriminating towards African-Americans as

most citizens were only white. White citizens would often ban blacks from living

there.

The City - 1939 Housing in America Documentary / Educational Film. Prod.

Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke. YouTube. Google, n.d. Web. 1 Nov.

2015. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cag7q8QlHY4>.

The Regional Planning Association of America created this movie in the

early part of the 20th century, hoping to put an end to the creation of dirty,

polluted cities and instead advertise clean places outside of the cities which

would be better for the desires and health of people. It shows how awful city life

was and was an informative source to find. By portraying polluted cities, and

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declaring that even local and state governments were advising people to leave the

city and move to the suburbs, this movie helped to increase migration to the

suburbs for a cleaner environment. .

Conquering Roads 1937 Vintage Higway Film. YouTube. Google, n.d. Web. 2 Oct.

2015. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AO4TVoaCPI>.

This film portrayed the road system as it existed before the interstate highway

system, and the poor driving conditions that car users had to deal with. I liked

viewing the historical road system and the problems it caused, because it clearly

showed the impact the highways have had on our commuting time and traffic

congestion.

Cutler, Richard W. Greater Milwaukee's Growing Pains, 1950-2000: An Insider's

View. N.p.: n.p., 2001. Print.

Richard Cutler’s novel clearly had bias towards the highways. Being one of the

principal creators of the interstate system in the Wisconsin area, he was very

much different from someone like Milwaukee Mayor Norquist. From his novel I

saw how highways were first constructed and governed at the local levels in

Wisconsin, in particular and in addition also view the politics behind the

construction of the interstate system.

Eisenhower, Dwight. At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends. Garden City: Doubleday

and Company, 1967. Print.

Dwight D Eisenhower’s autobiography showed the president’s motives for

making the freeways. In this autobiography, Eisenhower, in great detail discusses

the Transcontinental Motor Convoy, on which he embarked on as a young soldier.

After recounting his experience in the expedition and in what way it persuaded

him to improve the road system, Eisenhower continued to examine the essentiality

of the autobahns to Nazi Germany’s defense and mobility. This was simply one of

the many sources I used from Eisenhower’s own experiences, and helped me gain

a better understanding of the motives for the creation of the freeway system.

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Eisenhower, Dwight David. "Message to Congress." Letter. 22 Feb. 1955.

Eisenhower Archives. Eisenhower Presidential Libary and Museum, Abeline.

Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

<http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/online_documents/interstate_

highway_system/1955_02_22_Message_to_Congress.pdf>.

This message is a fantastic primary source, which aimed to convince leaders of

Congress to pass the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. To do this, President

Eisenhower listed motives for the construction of the freeways, including

increased mobility in case of an Atomic Attack. As this was during the Cold War

period, many citizens were afraid of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, and the

highways was one way the government could alleviate those fears. At first, the

highway system, to me, seemed unnecessary. However, after reading this primary

source, I gained a better understanding of in how many different way the highway

system impacts daily lives of millions of Americans, including improving

congestion and decreasing accident rates.

Eisenhower, Dwight David. "Report on Trans-Continental Trip." Letter. 3 Nov.

1919. Eisenhower Archives. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum,

Abeline. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. Web. 24 Nov. 20125

<http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/online_documents/1919_conv

oy/1919_11_03_DDE_to_Chief.pdf>.

The Eisenhower Online Archives, supported by the Eisenhower museum has

many great sources, this being one of them. After partaking in the

Transcontinental Military Convoy across America, Eisenhower produced an essay

detailing his feelings about the trip. In this journal, of sorts, Eisenhower declared

that the pre-freeway network to be terrible for multiple reasons. Numerous trucks

and automobiles broke on the long journey, causing the journey to be extended for

more time. By opening his eyes to the perils of an awful road system, the

transcontinental motor convoy also indirectly had a major influence on American

society.

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Eisenhower, Dwight David. Waging Peace: Dwight D. Eisenhower's Personal

Account. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, 1965. Print. The White

House Years.

As I stated before, President Eisenhower had many sources, many of which I

used. This primary source, Dwight D. Eisenhower's autobiography, this time

showed his life and experience as president. This autobiography also discussed

everything Eisenhower did as president and as the Allied Commander of WW2, in

addition to a chapter about the freeways. As shown by this novel, Eisenhower is

clearly someone to be respected for all the presidential decisions he made.

Gordon, Peter. "A Mass Transit to the Suburbs." New York Times [New York City]

27 Jan. 1988: n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/398102367/139C75DF351213DFF00/2?

accountid=35516>.

This piece conducted a poll where most Americans believed that the interstate

freeway/highway system was the primary reason for the construction and growth

of suburbs. This piece has many interesting facts about the growth of the suburbs.

For example, I did not know what the popular opinion was of the highway system.

Would people like the highways? Would they despise the highways for breaking

up their homes?

Hayes, Paul G. 28 April 1966. “Critics of Freeway Receive Support.” Milwaukee

Journal, pg12. Microfilm Collection, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Archives. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee.

UWM (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) libraries have a microfilm archives,

which I used extensively. Malcom Whyte, a leader of protests against the

construction of the highways, believed that the government lied to the American

people about the construction of the highways. Many Americans would be

relocated due to the construction of the highways, and the government apparently

glossed over these facts.

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Jordan, Robert Paul. "Our Growing Interstate Highway System." National

Geographic Feb. 1968: 194-219. Print.

This National Geographic piece allowed me to better comprehend the legacy of

the highways. I was able to get this print National Geographic from our school

library which has many old national geographic magazines. Some of the

information it included was the reasons for the freeways and the reasons why

some people despised the building of the freeways. It also talked about how it

split up neighborhoods, which helped me gain a better understanding of how it

separated citizens.

"Loss Caused By Traffic Congestion: It Is Major Problem Of Cities in U. S.,

Smith of Yale Says." Hartford Courant [Hartford] 17 June 1953, A8: n. pag.

ProQuest. Web. 22 Jan. 2016. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/

562292592/13BCA3229371D48AA66/24?accountid=285>.

Dwight Eisenhower stated that traffic congestion was one of the main reasons for

the building of the highways. This article helped me gain a better understanding of

that fact, as it was written before the Federal Aid Highway Act, and thus

complained about the amount of traffic congestion in the United States. The

article also told me the amount of automobiles in America, which was an

important figure for me.

Lueck, Thomas J. "New Ring of Suburbs Springs Up Around City." New York

Times [New York City] 29 Apr. 1986, A1: n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 6 Jan. 2016.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/425825839/13BA46574933136CB07/1?a

ccountid=285>.

This piece discussed the rise of the suburbs in New York, as this magazine was

part of the New York Times, a very reputable source. I also utilized a quote from

this paper to emphasize the suburban growth in American cities.

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Mead, Julia C. "Memories of Segregation in Levittown." New York Times [New

York City] 11 May 2003: n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/432406658/13B96E584D8742BF64/1?ac

countid=285>.

I used many interviews that this article from the New York Times contained,

which allowed me greater insight into the segregation and racism that African

American families faced in white suburbs, which could only be inhabited by the

richest segments of the population. For example, after an African-American

family moved to Levittown, a suburban area, they were immediately kicked out

due to their race, which was also encouraged by the government.

"Midwest Holiday" - 1952 Road Trip Across America. YouTube. Google, n.d. Web. 2

Dec. 2015. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW1mQb4BBf8>.

“Midwest Holiday”, a very old black and white movie, shows

characters traveling on roads throughout the Midwest. The interesting things is I

recognized many of the areas shown in the film, as many parts were filmed in

Wisconsin, particularly around the Lake Michigan and Wisconsin Dells Areas,

both of which, I know well. This film was created before the freeway system was

constructed, so I could clearly see how the roads were in bad conditions and very

cramped.

Miller, Loren. "Committee Against Housing Discrimination." Philadelphia. 12 Dec.

1958. Civil Rights in Pennsylvania. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, n.d.

Web. 7 Jan. 2016.

<http://173.203.96.155/sites/www.hsp.org/files/migrated/millerspeech.pdf>.

Similar to an article from the New York Times, this was a speech given to discuss

the violent actions that white citizens took after African-Americans moved to

Levittown, which is a suburban area near New York City. By clearly showing the

racism that numerous African-Americans faced in suburbs, it is quite safe to say

that the construction of the highways facilitated the segregation of the population.

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"Milwaukee Fights State, Suburbs Over Segregation." Hartford Courant [Hartford]

22 Apr. 1987, A2C: n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 15 Jan. 2016.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/1086385656/13B90E772E244CE1B59/5

?accountid=285>.

This Hartford Courant piece showed that the Milwaukee government declared that

the state governments and local suburban governments had increased segregation,

and whether unknowingly or knowingly, should be punished for it. As I live near

Milwaukee in a suburban area, I thought this article was very eye opening. I also

used a figure from this article about the amount of segregation that existed in

Milwaukee communities, due to the creation of the highways.

National and Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956. 1 USC. Print.

As this was the bill that created the freeway system, it was imperative that I read

this. It allocated billions of federal funding to the creation of the highways, and

told states to give the rest of the money. Since other highway acts did not give

federal funding, they were not as useful as the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.

This bill has thus led to the creation of the interstate highways.

Photo of Urban New York City. Digital image. AHI: United States -Month in Review.

Affordablehousinginstitute.org, n.d. Web.

This photo which helps create appendix B clearly shows how in an urban

environment, neighbors would have much closer contact with each other, thus

leading to a greater amount of encounters and exchanges.

1950's Car Documentary - "Key To Our horizons." Prod. Jam Handy. Youtube.

Google, n.d. Web. 2 November. 2015. <http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=YpBsilggoBo>.

This was a youtube film, which showed how the highways have helped the

American economy. Although not a principal focus of this paper, the highways

did have many positive results too. They created new types of business and

promoted the automobile industry, which in turn, led to millions of people

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acquiring jobs. Although this is tempered by the fact that they also separated

millions of the people, it is important to look at both sides of any argument.

Rothberg, Donald M. "Nation's Cities Fight Decay in Mass Transit: Mass Transit

Biggest System Typifies Every City's Problems." Los Angeles Times [Los

Angeles] 7 Dec. 1972: 14. ProQuest. Web. 3 Jan. 2016.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/157147611/13B90E380F64A60838F/3?a

ccountid=285>.

Due to the creation of the highways, mass transit rapidly declined all over

America. While the government tried to aid mass transit businesses, it was not

enough to overcome the power of the automobile. I also used a quote from this

article in my paper to emphasize the decline of mass transit due to automobiles

and the highways.

“Segment 2 and 3.” Video. 27 April 1966 . WTMJ-4 TV News Film Collection.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives, Milwaukee. UWM Libraries. 13

November 2015.

The UWM (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) libraries have great video

collections of old WTMJ-4 news segments. In this particular segment, I saw the

protests against highways in Milwaukee in a city council meeting. People said

that the government was not being fully honest into the negative aspects of the

highways. They were not covering the people who would lose their homes and

businesses, and be forced to look for jobs elsewhere. It showed that although the

government was trying their best to create the highway system, many people were

fighting just as hard to stop the construction of the highways, due to the mass

destruction it would cause to both communities and local economies.

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“Segment 2.” Video. 23 June 1966. WTMJ-4 TV News Film Collection. University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives, Milwaukee. UWM Libraries. 13 November

2015.

The UWM (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) libraries have great video

collections of old WTMJ-4 news segments. In this particular segment, I saw that

the government wasn’t paying the owners of houses, which would be demolished

proper amounts of money, as just the fact that their houses would be destroyed,

lowered the value of their homes. This also led to an increase in crime in these

areas.

“Segment 5.” Video. 16 Feb 1966. WTMJ-4 TV News Film Collection. University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives, Milwaukee. UWM Libraries. 13 November

2015.

The UWM (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) libraries have great video

collections of old WTMJ-4 news segments. The most interesting part about this

part was the people were talking about areas that would be demolished for the

construction of the highways. I realized the place they were talking about was a

place I pass by quite often, and this really made me think about the impact of the

highways on the landscape.

“Segment 5.” Video. 19 May 1966. WTMJ-4 TV News Film Collection. University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives, Milwaukee. UWM Libraries. 13 November

2015.

The UWM (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) libraries have great video

collections of old WTMJ-4 news segments. This was also a very interesting

segment. I found that Milwaukee citizens desired an independent study performed

by researchers who were not affiliated with the government on the highways and

the destruction it would cause. However, the government did not follow this idea,

as it would have led to the stoppage of the highways. Thus, this segment showed

the opposition that many highways faced.

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“Segment 6.” Video. 23 June 1966. WTMJ-4 TV News Film Collection. University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives, Milwaukee. UWM Libraries. 13 November

2015.

The UWM (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) libraries have great video

collections of old WTMJ-4 news segments. In this particular segment, I saw a

speech by leaders of West Allis. Similar to the Frontier Thesis of Frederick

Jackson Turner, he stated that their was no land available in the suburbs, as it had

already been taken up. This infuriated many people who wanted to move to the

suburbs, and leave the poor living conditions in the cities. However, no longer

would they be able to move to this particular area, as there was no more land

available.

“Segment 9.” Video. 16 Feb 1966. WTMJ-4 TV News Film Collection. University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives, Milwaukee. UWM Libraries. 13 November

2015.

The UWM (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) libraries have great video

collections of old WTMJ-4 news segments. This segment showed areas that were

marked for destruction due to the construction of the highways. Even in these

locations, people were still living and working, and these people would now lose

their homes and jobs.

Shipler, David K. "New Highways Shaping Future of City's Suburbs: New

Superhighways Shaping Future of City's Suburbs." New York Times [New

York City] 19 Aug. 1971: 1+. CultureGrams. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/119207417/13B96F0959E70A2E4BE/4?

accountid=285>.

This newspaper piece from the New York Times showed how the highways had

now spread businesses and homes over a large area, thus making mass transit less

viable. Mass transit can only exist in places with high-density populations, and the

suburbs allowed for people to spread horizontally instead. It also somewhat

discussed the rise of suburban areas due to the highways.

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"Streetsblog USA." 7 Photos Show How Detroit Hollowed Out During the Highway

Age. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. <http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/06/24/7-

photos-show-how-detroit-hollowed-out-during-the-highway-age/>.

A photo from this website was shown to emphasize the destruction cause by the

highways’ construction in Appendix B. This particular image is of a highway

being built in Detroit, Michigan.

Transportation History in the USA - "The American Road" - 1953 + 1970. Dir.

Raymond Massey. Youtube. Google, n.d. Web. 2 January. 2016.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FcuVtX_bXs>.

This documentary, made in 1953, about the state of the American road system

prior to the construction of the highways clearly expressed and enforced the need

for better road networks. Many people wanted to move away to the suburbs

because of the dirty, polluted cities, but this remained unviable as road systems

were poor. It would have been hard to commute to jobs in the city place, while

living in the suburbs, prior to the freeways. It also showed some of the road

systems, and the congestion and high accident rates that occurred due to the poor

road systems.

"U.S. Rail Aid Is Set For Intercity Lines: Compromise Railroad Plan Set for

Federal Aid to Intercity Lines." New York Times [New York] 29 Apr. 1970: n.

pag. ProQuest. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/119014496/13B6287ED519862CC8/5?a

ccountid=285#>.

As the highways led to the decline of mass transit, one of the major mass transit

types being intercity railways, the government tried to bail out these companies

by giving them large amounts of money. However, even this was still

unsuccessful.

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"Wider Roads For Traffic Relief: Necessity of Broad Motor Highways Widely

Recognized." New York Times [New York City] 22 Aug. 1926: n. pag.

ProQuest. Web. 22 Dec. 2015. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/

103724891/13BCA3B81B376DF1747/7?accountid=285>.

This extremely old newspaper piece showed that even one hundred years ago, far

before the interstate freeways, people had recognized the absolute need for more

efficient roads to improve traffic congestion and accident rates. Thus, although

people have wanted highways for many years, it remains a relatively recent

development in American history.

Williams Jr., Harrison A. "Transportation Ills In Urban Areas." Hartford Courant

[Hartford] 1 July 1960: 18. ProQuest. Web. 23 Dec. 2015.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/551910179/13BA45544BA4515B719/1?

accountid=285>.

This piece from the Hartford Courant discusses the problems that mass transit

faced due to the growth of the automobile industry and suggested ways to

improve mass transit. However, mass transit, even with millions of dollars of

loans from the federal government still remained too weak to fight back against

the growth of the automobile industry, facilitated by the highways.

Secondary Sources:

"Activity One." The Henry Patterson Collection: Letters on Levittown. Historical

Society of Pennsylvania, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

<http://173.203.96.155/node/2776>.

This website, which really served as an online archive, helped me with writing my

chapter on how highways split cities by racial factors. It provided me with even

more facts about Levittown, the racist suburb of New York, which kicked out

African American families. This archive contained many letters from both white

citizens and black families, pertaining to Levittown.

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Badger, Emily. "How Railroads, Highways and Other Man-made Lines Racially

Divide America’s Cities." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 16 July

2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/

wp/2015/07/16/how-railroads-highways-and-other-man-made-lines-racially-

divide-americas-cities/>.

This newspaper article discussed how all transport systems, including railways

and highways, all increased segregation. This article from the Washington Post

also includes many maps and charts to show how communities were split by

"these man made lines" anuses statistics and figures to back up their claims. This

really shows how highways were specifically routed to either separate white

communities from black ones, or separate black communities from each other.

Baum-Snow, Nathaniel. "Did Highways Cause Suburbanization?" The Quarterly

Journal of Economics 122.2 (2007): 775-805. Print.

This scholarly journal article provided me with very factual information and

statistics about the growth of the suburbs and how the highways clearly correlated

with the growth of the suburbs. I used many of the statistics I gained from this

paper into my chapter on the suburbs.

Bessert, Christopher J. "Milwaukee Freeways: Park Freeway." Wisconsin

Highways.

N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.wisconsinhighways.org/

milwaukee/park.html>.

This photo helped me visually see the destruction the highways’ construction

caused to the physical landscape. This photo from the air specifically was of a

part of a highway being built in Milwaukee. It is easy to see the destruction

caused by the highways to the neighboring areas.

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"Changing Face of America." Map. Interstate Density Map. US Department of

Transportation, n.d. Web. 31 October. 2015.

<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/densitymap.htm>.

This fantastic secondary source is a map that showed where the Department of

Transportation wanted to build highways and the houses and businesses that

would have to be purchased in order to do this. It also showed how the population

of America has grown around the location of the highways, showing a clear

correlation between locations of suburbs and locations of highways.

"City Life in the Late 19th Century." Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900. Library

of Congress, n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

<http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/

presentations/timeline/riseind/city/>.

City life prior the construction of the highways was very polluted, smelly, and

frankly, disgusting. While public transportation could help somewhat with this

problem to spread cities horizontally away from these places, it did not do as

much to improve environmental lifestyle as the highways.

Connecting America: Making the Case for Intercity Rail. N.p.: American Public

Transportation Association, 2005. Reconnecting America. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

<http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/assets/Uploads/gasfinnercityrail.pdf>.

This paper declared that the highways were responsible for the decline of mass

transit, in particular, inner city railways, and the federal government should have

done more to prevent the decline and loss of these businesses, which in turn led to

millions of people losing their jobs.

Cox, Wendell, and Jean Love. The Best Investment a Nation Ever Made: A Tribute to

The Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways.

Collingdale: Diane, 1996. Print.

This book is clearly biased towards the highways, showing only how the

highways positively influenced American life, such as by reducing commuting

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time and accident rates. I felt it was important to consider both positive and

negative aspects of the highways.

Edey, Maitland A., ed. This Fabulous Century: 1950-1960. Illus. Robert G. Mason.

Vol. 6. N.p.: Time Life Books, 1970. Print. This Fabulous Century.

This encyclopedia about the 1950' has a chapter on suburbs where I found useful

facts for my paper, such as people moved to cities for less polluted air. As it is a

relatively old encyclopedia, it did not have up to date information, but it was

interesting to see different opinions on a timeless topic- the interstate highways

and its impact.

"FAQ's." Eisenhower Interstate Highway System FAQ's. US Department of

Transportation, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.

<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.htm>.

This website supported and funded by the American Department of

Transportation has many interesting graphs, photos, and quotes about the

highway. This particular part of the website shows a chart that supports the idea

that the suburbanization of America was caused primarily and solely by the

highways, which in turn led to a rise in automobiles.

Grabkowski, Leonardo R. "Negative Effects of Urban Sprawl." San Fransisco

Chronicle: n. pag. Web. 28 Dec. 2015. <http://homeguides.sfgate.com/neative-

effects-urban-sprawl-1716.html>.

According to this piece from the San Francisco Chronicle, this unique perspective

on suburbs declared that suburbs were actually worse for the environment than

urban centers of cities. In addition, it commented on the splitting of the races due

to the highways.

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Hampson, Rick. "In the Future, Living in the USA Will Be More

Neighborly." USATODAY.COM. USA Today, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.

<http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-09-13/american-

city-living/57779436/1>.

This article has an interview with one of the founders of New Urbanism, a

movement revolving around the regroth of the urban areas instead of suburban

areas. The interviewee believes that the suburbs have less neighborly encounters

because the people are so spread out. When people live in the same apartment

they can much easier interact with each other. This happened very often in the

"olden times" when cities used to be the cultural centers of the country. this is

because they served as melting pots of different people, where different ideas

from different groups of people could be exchanged with each other.

"Homogenization, Protests & Outright Rebellion: 1950s: Highways to

Suburbanization." Picture This: California Perspectives on American History.

Oakland Museum of California, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.

<http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/timeline/homogenization-protests-

outright-rebellion-1950s/highways-suburbanization/info>.

This article believed that the splitting of the races was an unintended impact of the

highways and not meant by the architects of the act. Eisenhower, clearly, did not

design the highways to segregate cities, but it was simply an unfortunate aspect

that it caused due to the wealth disparity between the races.

Horizontal Growth of Cities. Environmental Spectrum Files. N.p., n.d. Web. 24

Jan. 2016. <http://www.laapush.org/environmentalspectrum_files/images/

000001ad.jpg>.

I used this photo from this to learn how cities first grew vertically due to

technological advancements, but then grew horizontally, as highways allowed

people to live far from their workplaces. This photo supports that idea.

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"The Interstate Highway System." Topics. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.

<http://www.history.com/topics/interstate-highway-system>.

Although I primarily discuss the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, there were

bills before. However, they did not have proper methods to fund the construction

of the highways and were not useful. This website helped me learn more about the

road system prior the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.

Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United

States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. Print.

This book allowed me to better comprehend the political decisions behind the

construction of the highway system, in particular the impact of Lucius D. Clay.

Eisenhower nominated Clay to set up a committee to learn about the need for a

national highway system. Since he was the chairman of General Motors, his

support for the highways was thus a foregone conclusion.

Lamb, Charles M. Housing Segregation in Suburban America since 1960:

Presidential and Judicial Politics. New York: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print.

This book primarily discusses the segregation of suburban American areas, where

whites are often separated from blacks and other minorities. People of these racial

groups were hardly ever allowed to stay in white suburbs, where only the richest

could move to. The book, written by a knowledgeable and reputed historian, also

draws connections between the segregated suburbs and the role the Interstate

highways system had in creating this separation of the racial inhabitants.

Marshall, Alex. How Cities Work: Suburbs, Sprawl, and the Roads Not Taken. 3rd ed.

N.p.: University of Texas Press, 2001. Print.

This novel declared that mass transportation systems are still vitally important to

the functioning of cities. However, they are not important now, as before.

Transportation really leads to the growth of cities and mass transportation can

lead to the vertical growth of cities internally. However, for external purposes, the

highways help grow cities horizontally.

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Mohl, Raymond A. "Stop the Road: Freeway Revolts in American Cities." The

Interstate and the Cities: Highway, Housing, and the Freeway Revolt 30.5

(2004): 674-706. Print.

This scholarly journal article had many interesting facts and statistics about the

segregation caused by the highways. Many people opposed the building of the

highways leading to the stoppage of the construction of the highways. In addition,

local and state governments would sometimes re-route highways through minority

communities, instead of breaking apart white communities, a shocking example of

how racist intentions fostered the segregation of cities and suburbs.

Mohl, Raymond A. Urban Expressways and the Central Cities In Postwar America.

N.p.: Poverty and Race Research Action Council, 2002. Print.

This scholarly journal article, from an author who I used before, shows how the

rise of segregated cities was linked to the growth of the highways. The highways

were constructed specifically in minority neighborhoods, instead of through white

communities. In addition, whites could then move to the suburbs, because they

relatively on average had more money than minorities, allowing them to move the

suburbs which were expensive places to live.

Obrinksky, Mark. "Overcoming Opposition to Multifamily Rental Housing." Joint

Center for Housing Studies (2007): n. pag. Print.

This journal article, written by Harvard students, discusses the decline in

popularity of multi family housing, mostly popular in urban areas. People have

started to prefer single-family housing as it provides more space. However, the

author worries that this will also decrease neighborly contact in addition to

hurting urban areas.

Oliver, J. Eric. Democracy in Suburbia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2001. Print.

This book tried to form connections between the suburban residents and their lack

of neighborly contact. The author believed that the lack of neighborly contact in

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the suburbs stemmed from the type of people who live in the suburbs, and the fact

that houses were far from each other, making communication harder.

Orfield, Gary, and Susan E. Eaton. Dismantling Desegregation: The Quiet Reversal

of Brown V. Board of Education. New York Cty: New Press, 1997. Print.

This book discusses the segregation of American cities. It also discusses how

even though society seemed to becoming more integrated through Supreme court

cases such as Brown V. Board of Education, in reality, society became more

separated leading to a decrease in encounters.

"An Overview of Suburbanization in the United States." NRB Suburbs Part 1.

National Park Service, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. <http://www.nps.gov/nr/

publications/bulletins/suburbs/part1.htm>.

This website shows how suburbs were first started by the inventions of the

streetcars. However, due to various financial and business mishaps, streetcar

companies went out of business. The automobile led to an even greater rise of

suburbanization, and the rise of the automobile was started by the rise of the

highways.

Pollard, Kelvin M., and William P. O'Hare. "America’s Racial and Ethnic

Minorities." Population Bulletin 54.3 (1999): n. pag. Print.

This website also discusses how even though society seemed to becoming more

integrated through various public government policies in reality, society became

more separated leading to a decrease in encounters. This website also contained

many interesting statistics and figures about the segregation of American cities.

"Quotations." The Quotable Interstate. Federal Highway Administration, n.d. Web.

15 Nov. 2015. <http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/quotable.htm>.

This website sponsored by the US Department of Transportation contains many

famous and inspiring quotes about the highway system. I used some of these

quotes in my paper to emphasize and highlight certain points.

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Rawlings, Lynette, et al. "Race and Residence: Prospects for Stable Neighborhood

Integration." Urban Institute 3 (2004): 1-10. Print.

This scholarly journal article provided me with useful statistics about the

segregation that still exists in American cities today, which I utilized in my paper.

Rybczynski, Witold, and Peter D. Linneman. "How to Save Our Shrinking Cities."

The Public Interest (1999): n. pag. Print.

This book declares that cities initially grew vertically due to advancements such

as the elevator and air conditioning. However, after the invention of the streetcar

and primarily the highways and automobiles, cities began to grow horizontally

and spread homes and businesses over a greater area, leading to the rise of the

suburbs.

Singleton, Carl, ed. The Sixties in America. Comp. William Zimmerman. Illus.

Karrie Hyatt. Hackensack: Salem Press, 1990. Print.

This encyclopedia of the 1960’s shows the highway’s effect on public

transportation and shows how the rise of the automobile, facilitated by the

highways, led to the destruction of inner city railways and other forms of mass

transportation.

Sun, Lijun, Kay W. Axhausen, Der-Horng Lee, and Xianfeng Huang.

"Understanding Metropolitan Patterns of Daily Encounters." Proceedings of

the National Academy of Sciences Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110.34 (2013):

13774-3779. Web.

This quantitive study showed a clear correlation between areas where there were a

high amount of public transportation users and the cultural knowledge/diffusion in

those areas. People who traveled on the buses were more likely to meet interesting

people from various fields and classes, which could in turn help one gain more

knowledge about other types of people.

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Super, John C., ed. The Fifties in America. Vol. 2. Pasedena: Salem Press, 2005.

Print.

This book, similar to an encyclopedia, provided me with information on lifestyle

and society in the 1950’s. I could now very easily contrast society after the

construction of the highways and before, including the amount of segregation.

Clearly, highways had a large impact on the society of America.

Swift, Earl. The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and

Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways. 2nd ed. N.p.:

Mariner, 2012. Print.

This book discussed two important things: the role of the highways and how they

led to the growth of the suburbs and how they led to segregated cities. This book

also showed me how racist local governments would re-route highways through

minority communities, even if it meant a higher building cost.

"Telegram from Chicago businessman to the President." Primary Sources.

Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 2 Jan. 2016.

<http://www.smithsoniansource.org/display/primarysource/viewdetails.aspx?

PrimarySourceId=1143>.

This website had a primary source telegram which showed how people were

being relocated out of their homes and businesses in Chicago due to the

construction of the highways, as the highways cut straight through the heart of the

city. In addition, the author noted how the highways only cut through areas

inhabited by the poorest people, leading to the separation of people of different

races and social classes.

Vertical Growth of Cities. History. Fordham University, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.

<http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/programs/honors_history/

ca10.jpg>.

This photo shows how cities used to grow vertically before the construction of the

highways. In addition, one can very easily see the cluttered roads, which would

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have made fast and efficient car travel impossible. In addition, one can see how

people used to live in close proximities to each other, which would allow for

neighborly contact. In suburbs, neighbors are not in close contact with each other,

thus decreasing encounters.

Weingroff, Richard. "The Genie in the Bottle." The Genie in the Bottle. US

Department of Transportation, 7 Apr. 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/00septoct/urban.cfm>.

This Richard Weingroff article gave me quotes about the highways, which helped

emphasize the importance of the construction of the highways and its importance.

Richard Weingroff is thought to be a leading historian on the highways and has

written numerous papers on the legacies of the highways.

Wilson, Helen F. "Passing Propinquities in the Multicultural City: The Everyday

Encounters of Bus Passengering." Environment and Planning A Environ Plan

A 43.3 (2011): 634-49. Web.

This fascinating article showed how the simple action of traveling on a bus can

teach the commuter many things. One meets many new people, and this stud used

advanced statistics and figures to show a correlation between how intercultural

relations are continuously developed through traveling on a bus. However, when

one stops traveling on buses, one also loses those intercultural relations.