Transportation shapes our cities. Think about where you live today and how you get around. Do you live close enough to walk to get your groceries and go to work? Are you dependent on a fixed mode of transit like a train? Do you have to get into your car everyday? Transportation has both created the shapes of our cities, and our transportation choices shape our cities.In the cities of old, everything had to be within walking distance because most people walked. Cities centralized around main areas such as the public square or marketplace because it could only be as far as one could walk. Small, dense cities developed. Ever wonder why Paris and Boston have such lively, walkable downtown areas? This is why.
As transportation changes sped up the city, the city was able to grow. Think about the implementation of streetcars in the later 19th century (and horsecars before). Fixed rails were laid. This meant that people could move quicker and with less effort around the city. This city could grow, but only along the areas where these lines ran.
The car was an invention that helped us move away from the fixtures of transportation. We could infill between traditional transportation routes of buses and trains, and we could go further and further out. This helped to create the huge, sprawling cities of today. Cities whose growth occurred during the age of the car were more likely to turn into an LA or Houston than a Paris.
The children's movie, Cars, highlights how important inter-urban transportation changes are to cities. The town of Radiator Springs was popular when it sat along Route 66, but when the interstate was built, it bypassed the city and the economy depressed. Cities have been made and broken by their connection or lack thereof to transportation.
This blog will focus on important ways transportation has changed our city and how we might shape them in the future.
