See also - Midwest: http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/12/60yrsmidwest/ - Southeast: http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/18/60yrssoutheast/ - Oklahoma + Texas: http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/09/60years/
They also had more plans for destroying the city that fell through when the unlimited Federal dollars ran out. See: http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2011/03/08/the-highway-that...
When you think about how small Albany is, the sheer scale of highways is ridiculous.
I've seen these images before since architecture and urban planning are a hobby of mine and I always find the Buffalo before/after shots horrifying by how many pre-war buildings were turned into asphalt for cars.
The automobile destroyed American cities... and mostly for the benefit of people who never even lived in the city but rather just commuted into or through it.
Besides the obvious complaint of freeways cutting willy-nilly through established cities, literally demolishing everything in its path, even the buildings suffered.
The gross misuse of outdoor space might be the second-greatest crime in American urban planning (after freeway culture). So many tight-knit neighborhoods and communities - tight streets full of activity and business - replaced with megalithic buildings surrounded by "plazas" and "parks" that fit neither description and are massive black holes devoid of human activity.
That Pittsburgh picture hurts the most. Roads lined with buildings replaced with vast concrete emptiness.
Rochester too - there is more parking lot and roadway west of the river than there are buildings! Disgusting.
And that Providence picture - if I didn't know better I'd think the after picture is after a war given how much has been absolutely leveled into flat ground.
Agh I can't look at this.
If the "after" photo of Providence were from, say, 2003, the change would be even more dramatic.
