Noting 50 Years of the Interstate
A milestone of sorts being observed at the end of this month.
June 29 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the federal
legislation by President Eisenhower that created the interstate highway
system.
A 1999 survey by the Fannie Mae Foundation found that historians and
scholars ranked "the Interstate Highway System and the dominance of the
automobile in transportation" as "the number one influence" on America
cities during the last half of the twentieth century.
State highway departments are marking the anniversary in a celebratory
manner ("Freedom", "Safety" and "Movement").
There is another side to it however. For example, what might American
cities or America for that matter looked like had we taken a more
European approach - subsidizing mass transit and rail more
comprehensive, and not focusing so exclusively at highways and planes ? (A New York Times recently described the state of the rails as "Hoover's Railroad)
What would social and business patterns be like ? How different might be
the role of oil today (and oil prices) had there not been the
conspiratorial alliance among the auto, steel. gasoline and tire
companies that intentionally bought out trolley companies to kill them
off ?
What would we have been like with more downtowns and town centers
and less sprawl ?
Finally, how about Charles Kuralt's statement that with the
interstates,"It is now possible to travel from coast to coast without
seeing anything".
Like it or not the interstate highway system has had a profound affect
upon what we are today (as individuals and as a nation).
The 50th anniversary date provides a good time for us to pause and
contemplate just what that signing in 1956 brought to us.
At our Letter From The Road newsletter at hiddenamerica.com we provide a bit more history of the origins of the interstate highway - Interestingly, did you know that Ike was inspired by what he saw in Europe (especially the ease of travel in Nazi Germany)?
In a recent review of the movie "Cars" film critic Kenneth Turan observed that among the strengths of the movie was that it made us recall a time when the idea was "Not to make great time but have a great time", and that it serves as a reminder of, "What we gave up to get to today".
As 50 years of the interstate is celebrated, we might to pause to make such a contemplation so as to help guide us into the next 50 years.
June 29 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the federal
legislation by President Eisenhower that created the interstate highway
system.
A 1999 survey by the Fannie Mae Foundation found that historians and
scholars ranked "the Interstate Highway System and the dominance of the
automobile in transportation" as "the number one influence" on America
cities during the last half of the twentieth century.
State highway departments are marking the anniversary in a celebratory
manner ("Freedom", "Safety" and "Movement").
There is another side to it however. For example, what might American
cities or America for that matter looked like had we taken a more
European approach - subsidizing mass transit and rail more
comprehensive, and not focusing so exclusively at highways and planes ? (A New York Times recently described the state of the rails as "Hoover's Railroad)
What would social and business patterns be like ? How different might be
the role of oil today (and oil prices) had there not been the
conspiratorial alliance among the auto, steel. gasoline and tire
companies that intentionally bought out trolley companies to kill them
off ?
What would we have been like with more downtowns and town centers
and less sprawl ?
Finally, how about Charles Kuralt's statement that with the
interstates,"It is now possible to travel from coast to coast without
seeing anything".
Like it or not the interstate highway system has had a profound affect
upon what we are today (as individuals and as a nation).
The 50th anniversary date provides a good time for us to pause and
contemplate just what that signing in 1956 brought to us.
At our Letter From The Road newsletter at hiddenamerica.com we provide a bit more history of the origins of the interstate highway - Interestingly, did you know that Ike was inspired by what he saw in Europe (especially the ease of travel in Nazi Germany)?
In a recent review of the movie "Cars" film critic Kenneth Turan observed that among the strengths of the movie was that it made us recall a time when the idea was "Not to make great time but have a great time", and that it serves as a reminder of, "What we gave up to get to today".
As 50 years of the interstate is celebrated, we might to pause to make such a contemplation so as to help guide us into the next 50 years.
posted by eric model | 10:58 PM
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