Growing up in rural Appalachia, I was taught America stood for its freedom — so long as you weren’t harming another person, you could do whatever you want, and when you own a piece of American land, you can use it however you want. Those ideals, particularly the latter, shaped American cities into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Neighborhoods evolved with a diverse mix of residential and commercial spaces seamlessly integrated into the urban fabric.
Bustling streets with trolleys, bicycles and cars shared the public space with street vendors. That changed in the mid-20th century after the Supreme Court validated the constitutionality of the use of municipal zoning laws, allowing planners all over the country to segregate land uses and designate large swaths of their city solely for single-family homes. This resulted in neighborhoods of homogenous enclaves where residents are forced to use a car to access daily amenities like grocery stores, doctor’s offices, or schools and child care.
New and rigid off-street parking requirements forced property owners to dedicate substantial portions of their land to storing cars. The social interactions of impromptu sidewalk conversations that create strong community ties were legislated out of neighborhoods. In the 1950s, state and local governments began using eminent domain to seize tens of thousands of private properties to build the Interstate Highway System.
Thriving neighborhoods, iconic architecture, important civic an.
