Can Removing Highways Fix America's Cities?

[Who_Me?]

Some, like Syracuse and Detroit, have committed to replacing stretches of interstate with more connected, walkable neighborhoods.

If they get rid of the expressways running through Chicago I'll never go to the Loop again. There's nothing walkable on the west side.

 

[fncceo]

We walk the West Side all the time.

 

[Who_Me?]

We walk the West Side all the time.

View attachment 495232

We're proud of you! But there is no way you're getting me out there.

 

[fncceo]

We walk the West Side all the time.

View attachment 495232

We're proud of you! But there is no way you're getting me out there.

I don't recommend going without backup, or if you're not strapped.

 

[AZrailwhale]

Santa Barbara used to have a “dead zone”. US 101 used to stop just north of the center of the city and start again a couple of miles to the south. It was a nightmare, especially since Santa Barbara is a choke point and there is no practical alternative to passing through the city. Traffic was always backed up and you’d often take thirty to sixty minutes to drive a couple of miles.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

Santa Barbara used to have a “dead zone”. US 101 used to stop just north of the center of the city and start again a couple of miles to the south. It was a nightmare, especially since Santa Barbara is a choke point and there is no practical alternative to passing through the city. Traffic was always backed up and you’d often take thirty to sixty minutes to drive a couple of miles.

I remember that.

I grew up there. I heard it claimed, once that it was possible to drive all the way from Canada to Mexico, along a route where the only place you'd have to stop for a stop light would be this point in Santa Barbara.

I remember the great Santa Barbara Crosstown Freeway project, to eliminate the series of intersections between the 101 and a handful of major local streets, putting underpasses beneath the 101 so that the whole length could be turned into freeway.

 

[Dekster]

Some, like Syracuse and Detroit, have committed to replacing stretches of interstate with more connected, walkable neighborhoods.

If they get rid of the expressways running through Chicago I'll never go to the Loop again. There's nothing walkable on the west side.

It wouldn't hurt that is for sure.