Argument Map - Shivam Patel by Shivam Patel https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p en-us 2023-04-06 01:40:13 UTC 2023-04-22 15:43:42 UTC hello@padlet.com Background Information Paragraph shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545659654 As World War 2 veterans came back home, the urban environment had changed. The model created in Levittown, New York, which allowed for a more planned urban environment, would eventually lead to the creation of suburbia. Veterans would purchase affordable homes in these suburbs located just outside cities. However, while people flocked to suburbs, most economic activity and employment opportunities were still located in densely populated cities. "To speed suburban commuters to and from [the] downtown[s]" of cities, the federal government created the interstate highway system, not without help from major car manufacturing lobbies, who held a vested interest in highways becoming popular. At the time, creating a link between cities was seen as a militarily advantageous idea. President Eisenhower, the president who oversaw the creation of the interstate highway system, originally planned for the highway to be used for transport of nuclear warheads in case of war on the homeland. Interstates would connect rural areas with city centers, which was a positive for people living in rural areas, who were mostly left behind during the industrialization of cities in the late to early 19th and 20th centuries. However, residents in cities where highways were being planned often resented the creation of these megaprojects, and while those in affluent neighborhoods were able to thwart the threat of highways, marginalized groups such as lower income Americans and African Americans were ignored in their efforts; as a result many interstate highways would separate these already struggling neighborhoods from the economic center of the city, pushing them away from opportunities and "displacing more than a million people across the country, most of them Black." Suburbia would further grow with the creation of interstate highways, and to push more growth, low density housing zones would be enacted, artificially increasing the cost of housing in popular areas; rising costs in housing would become a common theme across all US cities. As cities move away from cars due to climate change, more and more cities and demolishing the same highways that destroyed parts of cities all those decades ago. ]]> 2023-04-06 01:40:53 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545659654 Pedestrian friendly development shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545660712 Infrastructure that supports the use of bicycles, scooters, or alternative forms of transportation easily accessible to city residents. ]]> 2023-04-06 01:41:58 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545660712 Car-dependent infrastructure shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545661173 City infrastructure that requires the usage of a car for infrastructure to be used as intended ]]> 2023-04-06 01:42:22 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545661173 Urban renewal shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545661371 A program of redevelopment that clears out unliked parts of cities and urban environments, usually filled with lower class and marginalized people, and creates opportunities for gentrification and business developments. ]]> 2023-04-06 01:42:34 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545661371 Urban sprawl shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545661695 The unrestricted spread of urban environments to create low density, single-use housing zones over a large area. ]]> 2023-04-06 01:42:47 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545661695 Single-use zoning shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545661893 Zoning system where parts of cities can only be used for one purpose ]]> 2023-04-06 01:42:58 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2545661893 Key Terms shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546251701 2023-04-06 13:05:57 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546251701 The Problem shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546256957 Interstate highways have further increased the divide in who has access to high paying jobs and city amenities, which has destroyed the socioeconomic ladder that has existed throughout the history of the country. Furthermore, the average commute Americans take has consistently increased mostly due to highways becoming more abundant. Highway driving also tends to be the least efficient method of transportation, which shows when looking at its toll on the environment. ]]> 2023-04-06 13:12:10 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546256957 The Argument shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546261671 Aging highway infrastructure in cities should be demolished in order for that land to be used to rebuild neighborhoods and bring people back into city downtowns. ]]> 2023-04-06 13:17:25 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546261671 Highway infrastructure is aging and is currently in need of being replaced in most US cities shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546273751 2023-04-06 13:29:16 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546273751 Instead of rebuilding highways, cities can replace the highway with affordable housing, parks and recreational areas, and public transport. shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546277880 2023-04-06 13:33:25 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546277880 Increases in public transport accessibility will make transportation to cities more affordable, less cumbersome as there will be less traffic congestion, and more environmentally clean. shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546280318 2023-04-06 13:35:47 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546280318 Counter: Replacing highways will be expensive and cities will most likely replace them with houses that are unaffordable for most city residents. shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546284390 Cities can fund outreach programs in the neighborhoods that are being worked in in order to prevent urban renewal projects that lead to gentrification and the pushing away of local residents. Furthermore, land grants can be implemented in order to ensure that there is a minimum amount of affordable housing available in the new developments. ]]> 2023-04-06 13:39:40 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546284390 Other countries in places like Europe and Asia have less car-dependent infrastructure in cities, which has led to more equitable cities and better quality of life of city residents. shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546289067 2023-04-06 13:44:32 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546289067 Highways are extremely inefficient in terms of the amount of people they can move in a certain amount of land space. shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546293883 2023-04-06 13:49:14 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2546293883 Most people in American cities commute a long way to work, and the most common method of transport is highways shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548015999 2023-04-09 15:07:16 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548015999 Most people do not like their long commutes due to the fact that they are stuck in traffic on highways shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548016906 In the United States, the average commute is 54.5 minutes, according to the Census Bureau, and a lot of that time is spent in bumper-to-bumper traffic. As a result of increasing commute times, people have decided to wake up early, which alots more of their daily lives to work, time that they could be spending living a more healthy lifestyle or being with family. ]]> 2023-04-09 15:09:37 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548016906 Highways cause a lot of environmental damage shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548020178 With highways and the many cars that drive on them comes the exhaust that comes with driving a car, and as a result, pollution in cities such as LA, which are extremely highway dependent, is high, furthering the degradation of the quality of life in those cities solely due to highways. ]]> 2023-04-09 15:18:15 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548020178 The Interstate Highway system has roots in systemic racism, and removing them can undo some of the negative changes shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548070557 The areas where highways were chosen to be built were disproportionally in African American neighborhoods, and as a result, were cut off from the rest of the city amenities. ]]> 2023-04-09 17:58:08 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548070557 Highways became popular due in part to the rise of suburbs, which saw city residents with the means to leave flock to low density neighborhoods, leaving behind the underprivileged in the cities. shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548196478 2023-04-10 00:17:23 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548196478 Reflection shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548222117 After looking through my sources on highways, I have found that there is a social/socioeconomical, psychological, and environmental lens that this issue can be looked upon. After looking through these, I feel that I want to focus more on the psychological effects that highways can have on the people that use it, along with the social effects of the urban design that comes with highways. After doing more research, the psychological lens has to do with the way that people transport themselves to and from cities, where most people have employment. Furthermore, the social effects seem to be a small piece of a much larger puzzle, and therefore, I believe that I would be doing this topic an injustice if I do not focus on these details. One part of the puzzle that I did not focus too much on was the political and governmental aspect of this. Because highways are usually government run projects, it would help to deliver a more whole perspective to include the government's role on urban design in modern America. As I have laid out some possible solutions to the issue, I should focus more on why these solutions have not been implemented, and some of the potential flaws of the solutions I have given. While I have focused on the more cynical effects of highways, I believe that there should be more parts of highways that are positive, as not all bad came out from the creation of the interstate highway system. More accessibly from rural areas allowed those areas to grow economically, and those with cars are now able to travel to parts of nature that were previously hard to get to. ]]> 2023-04-10 00:43:43 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548222117 Follow-up questions shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548223216 How did the creation of accessible highways lead to the rise of suburban America?
What were the original goals of the interstate highway system? What are viable alternatives to highways that can be implemented swiftly and affordably?  ]]> 2023-04-10 00:44:54 UTC https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548223216 Sources for further research: shp127 https://padlet.com/shp127/t7ud1kohd0zcnk5p/wish/2548223561
  • https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/27/climate/us-cities-highway-removal.html
  • https://www.vox.com/2015/5/14/8605917/highways-interstate-cities-history
  • https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/02/harvard-design-students-reimagine-u-s-interstate-highway-system/

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