3 ms·

I really wish urbanists would stop blaming transportation infrastructure for poverty and racism. The article itself mentions that this poverty is systemic to d

I really wish urbanists would stop blaming transportation infrastructure for poverty and racism. The article itself mentions that this poverty is systemic to dozens of issues in the area (zoning rules, poor public transit, suburbs not having section 8 housing, loosing 10,000 jobs in three years, and many more). Eliminating a freeway does nothing to address any of those issues. --- And everyone knows this. What "ReThink81" really wants is to take that public infrastructure land, sell it to developers for cheap so they can make a lot of profit off building luxury condos and luxury retail/commercial spaces. It will be a happy accident when the rise in property values "just so happens" to displace a number of the existing poor residents. See : http://rethink81.org/vision/vision-images http://rethink81.org/vision/vision-images

skybrian 11y ago
If only it were that easy to revive Syracuse.
akgerber 11y ago
Tearing down a freeway doesn't necessarily lead to 'luxury condos and luxury retail/commercial spaces' when there's no demand for such property in the neighborhood. There's vacant land at the edge of downtown Milwaukee from the teardown of a freeway spur almost 15 years ago. That said, in a rust belt city like Milwaukee or Syracuse, the real risk is full-scale abandonment of the city in the style of Detroit or Flint— which is best prevented by having a diverse array of people invested in, and fighting for the city. If that doesn't happen, it'll decay into a zone of concentrated poverty that major employers flee for the suburbs, trapping people in a worsening cycle of poverty because they can't get a job without a car and can't get a car without a job. And a car often costs the better part of $5,000 a year to maintain, and potentially much more if you can't scrape together that $5,000 upfront for something decent used and have to deal with scammy low-end car dealers. And, of course, some rich people and expensive property are a necessary part of a city's tax base if it's to pay for decent schools and transit and social services and libraries and all the services that enable social mobility.
Spooky23 11y ago
The highway thing is mostly a side effect of unlimited funds being available to build highways 50-60 years ago. The engineers went mad. But the reason Syracuse is a dump is that industry evaporated and went to Mexico and later China. If you want to look at a more depressing place than Syracuse that doesn't have a highway cutting through it, check out Utica, about 45 minutes to the east. It's like a neutron bomb hit in 1988.

skybrian 11y ago

If only it were that easy to revive Syracuse.

akgerber 11y ago

Tearing down a freeway doesn't necessarily lead to 'luxury condos and luxury retail/commercial spaces' when there's no demand for such property in the neighborhood. There's vacant land at the edge of downtown Milwaukee from the teardown of a freeway spur almost 15 years ago. That said, in a rust belt city like Milwaukee or Syracuse, the real risk is full-scale abandonment of the city in the style of Detroit or Flint— which is best prevented by having a diverse array of people invested in, and fighting for the city. If that doesn't happen, it'll decay into a zone of concentrated poverty that major employers flee for the suburbs, trapping people in a worsening cycle of poverty because they can't get a job without a car and can't get a car without a job. And a car often costs the better part of $5,000 a year to maintain, and potentially much more if you can't scrape together that $5,000 upfront for something decent used and have to deal with scammy low-end car dealers. And, of course, some rich people and expensive property are a necessary part of a city's tax base if it's to pay for decent schools and transit and social services and libraries and all the services that enable social mobility.

Spooky23 11y ago

The highway thing is mostly a side effect of unlimited funds being available to build highways 50-60 years ago. The engineers went mad. But the reason Syracuse is a dump is that industry evaporated and went to Mexico and later China. If you want to look at a more depressing place than Syracuse that doesn't have a highway cutting through it, check out Utica, about 45 minutes to the east. It's like a neutron bomb hit in 1988.