#Robert Moses bridge

[theheshinc]

Great South Bay, Long Island, NY ... frozen over this morning. Photo by Matt Pecorella.

[oflgtfol]

NAURRR YOURE GONNA CRASH INTO AN OVERPASS

[newyorkthegoldenage]

The old New York Aquarium in the process of demolition, 1941.

Opened in 1896, it was described as having "a pungent and warm blend of age and familiarity and long affection and human scale, of busts of old singers and the flash of bright fish, of gloomy corners where one could neck with one's date, of being easy to get to and free, so that people could simply walk in as if it belonged to them." Robert Moses disagreed. He called it "an ugly wart on the main axis leading straight to the Statue of Liberty."

But he really wanted it gone to satisfy his imperial ambitions: a bridge on the site (Castle Clinton in Battery Park). When that plan was frustrated, he tried for a tunnel. He got neither. But the building was torn down, the animals and fish given to facilities in other cities, and the sea lions, temporarily, to the Bronx Zoo. Fourteen years later, another aquarium was built at Coney Island, but unlike the original, which was free, it charged a pretty high entrance fee. In his biography of Moses, The Power Broker (from which the description above of the old aquarium was taken), Robert Caro called the new aquarium Moses's revenge for not getting his bridge.

Photo: Jacob Harris for the AP

[thosearentcrimes]

Read The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro. Very good book, worth a read, no wonder it won a Pulitzer.

One of the things about The Power Broker is that the whole way through you marvel at Caro's ability to locate information, to extract what are basically confessions, and so on. But it's only at the end of the book, once you reach the notes, that you realize just how exhaustive the reporting is, and how well-founded. And that's just the research that made it into the book in some form.

As far as the subject matter goes, there's too many interesting nuggets to list them out. Here's one though, only one among an endless number of questions raised or implied by the book.

In the 50s and 60s Americans were universally in the business of ruining their cities by running highways through them. Nowhere were they more in the business of doing this than in New York City, where it basically all occurred under the aegis of Robert Moses, Power Broker.

Now, the thing about running highways through cities is that it is consistently billed as a solution to devastating traffic problems, and is never actually a solution to these problems. The reasons for this are mildly complex and quite well-known these days, but fundamentally boil down to the fact that basic logistic features of the automobile make it non-viable as the primary form of transportation in anything that can remotely be called a city.

In the 50s and 60s, this was only slowly becoming apparent as the demand for automobiles turned out to be bounded only by road capacity, but surely the people in charge of highway planning would have been able to notice induced demand early? Like, they would have had to have seen eventually that they were constantly saying the next highway would solve traffic and that it never did? Did they, though? Moses' projections consistently underestimated future traffic on his bridges, for decades. Was he low-balling statistics that could be sold as demand for or interest in the bridge? If so, why?

The book doesn't say, and in fact doesn't particularly indicate that Robert Moses ever became aware of induced demand, but there are a handful of plausible reasons for him to notice and to then conceal it.

Obviously, the first explanation is that making the phenomenon of induced demand public would have reduced political interest in road construction. This would free Moses to explain the phenomenon to car companies, construction firms and unions, and bankers underwriting his bond issues privately to secure their continued support, without endangering municipal, state, and federal contributions. Perhaps.

Here's another one. Let's say Robert Moses puts together a correct projection of the number of cars going on a planned future bridge of his, and he goes up to federal authorities asking for a substantial contribution to build it. If they continue to believe it's worth building even though it'll obviously be a permanent traffic jam, they might still say "well with these projections, you could take on a significantly larger part of the costs with bond issues and still pay them down pretty quick from tolls".

Even if they hadn't responded that way, Robert Moses' power lied largely in his big pot of unregulated cash. That cash consisted of unexpected revenues from toll bridges, leveraged to the moon as new bonds. If he had accounted for those revenues during planning, he would have to pre-leverage them, and even if he didn't have to spend those new bonds on the bridge and hid them somehow, it would have probably made restructuring the bonds a lot less convenient. His money supply would have been irregular, maybe.

I dunno.

Anyway, car bad, damn near everything other than car good purely by comparison (except probably horse-carriage those seem worse). Public-private partnership is an exciting method of maximizing the rate of corruption involved in a given project. New York City is just absolutely dogshit at electing mayors, holy shit, what is wrong with these people.

[centrally-unplanned]

Inspired by a post on my dash I need to do like a 'write-up' of Robert Moses - I am not going to go so far as to say its a 'defense', I don't particularly like Robert Moses, kindof hate his vision for cities and he was a total asshole! But Robert Caro's The Power Broker is not actually a great history; very accomplished of course, but riddled with errors (Moses's "racist bridges" are a myth, for example) and weak on analytical heft. Popular narratives about Moses exaggerate both his malice and his power, and in particular pretend that some grand 'other destiny' for NYC was in the wings, if only we had turned left instead of right, as opposed to Moses being but a part of a global shift in urban dynamics driven by more structural factors.

And finally, the 'cure' for Robert Moses has turned out to be worse than the disease; the emergence of local actors gaining veto power over the plans of city and state planning offices has been the blueprint for NIMBYism and decayed state capacity across the US and more. That part at least is pretty well understood these days, would be more of a concluding thought, but still - we would all be better off if cities allowed more government officers like Robert Moses to exist.

[reptilia2003]

listening to The Power Broker and there’s a part about the opening of the triboro bridge and how it didn’t relieve traffic as they’d expected but actually increased it, and robert moses’s solution was let’s just build more highways and bridges for cars, which of course didn’t work either. the way that this book (written in 1974) is talking about an example of induced demand from 1936, nearly a century ago, and yet you’ve still got traffic engineers and DOTs all over this country stuck in the “just one more lane bro” mindset…i want to scream

[what-in-procrastination]

I was trying to research the history of the throgs neck bridge only to learn that robert moses of unsleeping city infamy was a real guy of real life infamy. anyway the throgs neck bridge was named after someone named throckmorton

[phantomfingers]

”George Washington Bridge” by Berenice Abbott. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, p. 357, 1055.

[moleshow]

you know when you think about it robert moses did in effect own a bridge in brooklyn

[hoursofreading]

When I was a little kid, I felt that the adults around me had a thick, rich, complicated understanding of the way the world worked. They knew things – facts, history – and they understood processes and people and the way something like a bond measure or a public authority worked. It was this understanding – which they had, and I didn’t – that made me a child, and them adults. Grownups had an infrastructure of information, truth, and insight that I lacked. As I grew older, I was dismayed to discover that grownups really didn’t know a fraction of what I gave them credit for, and that most of the people ostensibly running the world had no clue how it operated, and my intense disillusionment caused me to lose sight of that adulthood theory for awhile.

But reading this book made me feel like a grownup because it helped me to understand the way the world works as I never had before. This book is about power. It is about politics. It is a history of New York City and New York State. It is an explanation of how public works projects are built. It is about money: public money, private money, and the vast and nasty grey areas where they overlap. This book is about democracy, and the lack thereof. It is about social policy, and economics, and our government, and the press. This book is about urban planning, housing, transportation, and about how a few individuals’ decisions can affect the lives of the masses. It helped explain traffic in the park, and the projects in Brownsville, and a billion other mysteries of New York City life that I'd wondered about. The Power Broker is about ideals, talent, and institutional racism. It is about inequality. It is about genius. It is about hubris. It is the best goddamn book I have ever read in my entire life, hands down, seriously.

Please do not think that it took me five months to read this book because it was dense or slow! This was a savoring, rather than a trudging, situation. Robert Caro is an incredibly engaging writer. One thing that happened to me early on from reading this was that I lost my taste for trashy celebrity gossip. Who CARES about Britney’s breakdown or, for that matter, Spitzer’s prostitute peccadilloes when I could be reading about the shocking intricacies of Robert Moses’ 1925 legislative consolidation and reorganization of New York State’s administrative structure? This book gave me chills – CHILLS! – on nearly every page with descriptions of arcane political maneuvering and fiscal policy so riveting that I lost my previous interest in reading about sex and drugs. Let’s face it: sex and drugs are pretty boring. Political graft, mechanics of influence, the workings of government: now that’s the hot stuff, when it’s presented in an accessible and digestible form. Nothing in the world is more fascinating than power, and Robert Caro writes about power better than anyone I’ve come across. There are no dry chapters in this book; there’s barely a dull page. It is infinitely more readable than Us magazine, and not much more difficult.

Of course The Power Broker is many things, among them a biography. While any one portrait of New York power icons from Al Smith to Nelson Rockefeller is more than worth the price of admission, this book is primarily about Robert Moses. Caro understands and explains the relationship between individual personalities and systems. One of his main theses is that Moses achieved the unchecked and unparalleled levels of power he did because he figured out how to reshape or create systems around himself. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority would not have existed without Robert Moses, and Robert Moses would not have been what he was, or accomplished what he did, without the brilliance he had for shaping the very structure of government into conduits for his own purposes. To explain this, Caro needs to convey a profound understanding not only of how these systems worked, but of who this man was. He does so, and the result goes beyond Shakespearean: it is Epic. The Power Broker is the story George Lucas was trying to tell about Anakin Skywalker’s transformation to Darth Vader, only George Lucas is no Robert Caro, and The Power Broker succeeds wildly in the places where Star Wars was just a hack job (of course, Caro wasn’t handicapped by Hadyn Christensen, which does indirectly raise the burning question: WHO’S OPTIONED THIS???).

[go-bac]

Critical Question - Do Artifacts have Politics

After reading the paper entitled “Do Artifacts have Politics”, I was completely astonished to read that the master planner Robert Moses of New York City purposely designed bridges and highways to keep mass transit out of the more affluent neighborhoods.  Moses knew that the poor needed to use the buses to get around the city. He designed his roads to only accommodate automobiles.

Many times, I have visited cities where the transit infrastructure only exist in the downtown areas. As you drive or travel to the suburbs surrounding the inner city the transit lines end.  This means a person without a car would be immobile. I always thought the phenomenon was attributed to urban sprawl.  As I think of so many southern cities such as Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Birmingham, I now realize this was a tradition passed amongst many city planners from Moses’ thought process. 

Metropolitan cities today are trying to revamp this huge transit issue by adding new transit lines which extend to the outer reaches of the city.

[another-normal-anomaly]

My husband sent me some interesting facts about this bridge!

So, the 11 foot 8 bridge's main problem is that it's old, as the wikipedia page (link this:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Southern%E2%80%93Gregson_Street_Overpass) explains pretty well - it was designed before trucks and busses got so tall, unlike the "racist bridges" of New York that Robert Moses had involvement with.The reason that it's known as the 11 foot 8 bridge but currently has more than 12 feet of clearance is also explained - after the website tracking its collisions had been up for about 11 years, the Norfolk Southern Railroad did a small project to increase clearance as much as they could without having to regrade extensive parts of the embankment that trains are on above the bridge on either side, gaining an extra 8" (https://11foot8.com/raising-11foot8/). However, you don't throw away branding when there's a number in your name just because the number changed, so the website stayed the same and I think sometimes brands as "11 foot 8 plus 8". It seems to have reduced the number of incidents a fair bit, though it didn't get rid of them. A single-level city bus needs about 10 feet of clearance, so would clear both generations of the bridge, while an intercity coach like a Greyhound or Flixbus or something is about 12 ft 6" and so wouldn't clear either version, and would have to use one of the level crossings of the same rail line either 500m west or 200m east.

was reminded of that youtube channel that records footage of that bridge that scalps trucks today. one of the fascinating developments that's happened since i last heard about it is that, in one of their many attempts to stop the trucks from being can-opened, they installed a traffic light that detects when a vehicle that's over the allowed height is coming and turns red so the driver can stop and hopefully notice the signage all around that's screaming "YOUR VEHICLE IS OVERHEIGHT TURN AROUND" and avoid an accident. However as a result sometimes drivers see the light turning yellow and IMMEDIATELY start flooring it to avoid having to stop, ensuring that the roof of their truck just gets fucking annihilated instantly. Really beautiful stuff you should check it out

[jwscrobbles]

Top 50 Songs Scrobbled for the Week Ending 1.26.2024

TW       LW                   ARTIST/SONG

1          2                      Charli XCX/Troye Sivan – TALK TALK (1 week @ #1)

2          4                      Justine Skye – WHIP IT UP

3          6                      LB Giobbi/Portugal.TheMan. – BITTERSWEET

4          1                      Justice/Tame Impala – NEVERENDER (1 week @ #1)

5          3                      Eric Benet/Tamar Braxton – SOMETHING WE CAN MAKE LOVE TO (1 week @ #1)

6          5                      Victoria Monet/Usher – S.O.S. (SEX ON SIGHT)

7          7                      Lady Gaga/Bruno Mars – DIE WITH A SMILE (1 week @ #1)

8          10                    Kaytranada/Channel Tres – DRIP SWEAT

9          11                    Mario - SPACE

10        9                      Majid Jordan – LIFE 2

11        13                    Foster the People – LOST IN SPACE

12        14                    Charli XCX - APPLE

13        8                      Quavo/Lenny Kravitz – FLY (4 weeks @ #1)

14        15                    October London – SHE KEEPS CALLING

15        12                    Marshia Ambrosius – ONE NIGHT STAND

16        22                    Willow - BIGFEELINGS

17        24                    Beach House – HOLIDAY HOUSE

18        25                    Jussie Smollett – MY MIND

19        16                    Kylie Minogue/Bebe Rexha/ToveLo – MY OH MY

20        21                    Tinashe – THIRSTY

21        17                    Coldplay – FEELSLIKEIMFALLINGLOVE

22        19                    Maxwell – SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL (2 weeks @ #1)

23        18                    Terrace Martin/24KGOLDN - MADNESS

24        20                    Durand Bernarr/Free Nationals – FIST BUMP

25        23                    Gallant – COLDSTAR

26        30                    Zilo - SOMETIMES

27        26                    Nikka Costa – DIRTY DISCO

28        29                    Empire of the Sun – THE FEELING YOU GET

29        27                    Tyla and Becky G – ON MY BODY

30        28                    Sia – IMMORTAL QUEEN

31        35                    Tyla – PUSH + START

32        38                    Leon Bridges – PEACEFUL PLACE

33        31                    Lucky Daye/Teddy Swims – BLAME

34        40                    Marsha Ambrosius - WET

35        41                    Kendrick Lamar/SZA - LUTHER

36        33                    R. Glasper/L. Hathaway/Common – EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD 

37        39                    Kylie Minogue – LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION

38        42                    Normani – INSOMNIA

39        32                    Charli XCX – 360 (1 week @ #1)

40        36                    Masego – WHAT YOU WANNA TRY

41        34                    Disclosure – SHE’S GONE DANCE ON 

42        37                    Willow/Jon Batiste – HOME (1 week @ #1)

43        44                    Bryson Tiller – WHATEVER SHE WANTS

44        ---                     Tom Misch – FALLING FOR YOU

45        ---                     Doechii – DENIAL IS A RIVER

46        46                    Tommy Richman – WHITNEY

47        ---                     Moses Sumney – HEY GIRL

48        ---                     Childish Gambino – IN THE NIGHT

49        45                    Childish Gambino – YOSHINOYA

50        47                    Robert Glasper – GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMAN/CAROL OF THE BELLS

[musicindustry123]

Rediscovering Jazz: Great Albums You May Have Missed in Modern Jazz

Jazz, with its rich history and evolving styles, has always been a genre of exploration and depth. While many associate jazz with the legends of the past—Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ella Fitzgerald—the modern jazz landscape is teeming with incredible talent, pushing boundaries in innovative ways. Despite the genre’s enduring presence, some of the most groundbreaking modern jazz albums have gone underappreciated. In this article, we’ll uncover great albums you may have missed in modern jazz, highlighting brilliant works by contemporary artists who continue to push the genre forward.

These jazz albums combine elements of traditional jazz with genres like electronic, hip-hop, soul, and classical, creating a refreshing, genre-blending sound. Whether you’re a longtime jazz fan or new to the genre, each of these albums offers a unique listening experience that challenges and redefines what jazz can be. Let’s dive into some great albums you may have missed and rediscover the allure of modern jazz through the works of artists who are reshaping its future.

1. “Black Radio” by Robert Glasper (2012)

Genre: Jazz Fusion / R&B

Standout Tracks: “Afro Blue,” “Cherish the Day,” “Gonna Be Alright” With Black Radio, Robert Glasper pioneered a modern take on jazz, fusing it with elements of R&B and hip-hop. The album features collaborations with artists like Erykah Badu, Mos Def, and Bilal, bridging the gap between jazz and mainstream music in an innovative way. Black Radio introduced a new sound to the jazz world, making it essential listening for anyone exploring contemporary jazz fusion.

2. “A Humdrum Star” by GoGo Penguin (2018)

Genre: Jazz / Electronic

Standout Tracks: “Prayer,” “Bardo,” “Transient State” GoGo Penguin’s A Humdrum Star is a minimalist masterpiece that blends jazz with electronica, creating an ethereal and immersive listening experience. Known for their rhythmically complex compositions and emotionally resonant soundscapes, the trio delivers an album that feels futuristic yet rooted in jazz fundamentals.

3. “Journey to the Mountain of Forever” by Binker and Moses (2017)

Genre: Free Jazz

Standout Tracks: “The Departure,” “Intoxication from the Jahvmonishi Leaves,” “Trees on Fire” This ambitious two-disc album by saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd explores free jazz with an intensity that keeps listeners on their toes. Journey to the Mountain of Forever blends Afrobeat, spoken word, and deep improvisational elements, making it one of the great albums you may have missed if you're into jazz that embraces experimentation and bold, rhythmic energy.

4. “Heaven and Earth” by Kamasi Washington (2018)

Genre: Jazz Fusion

Standout Tracks: “Fists of Fury,” “Street Fighter Mas,” “The Space Travelers Lullaby” Kamasi Washington has established himself as a powerful figure in contemporary jazz, and Heaven and Earth is a testament to his mastery. This double album is both a social commentary and a celebration of jazz’s expansive possibilities. Washington's powerful arrangements, coupled with his innovative style, create a listening experience that’s both thought-provoking and musically complex.

5. “Liquid Spirit” by Gregory Porter (2013)

Genre: Jazz Vocal

Standout Tracks: “Liquid Spirit,” “Hey Laura,” “No Love Dying” Gregory Porter’s Liquid Spirit showcases his soulful voice and heartfelt lyrics, rooted in both jazz and blues. The album won a Grammy and introduced Porter’s smooth yet passionate style to a broader audience. This album is perfect for fans of vocal jazz who want to explore contemporary jazz with an infusion of blues and gospel.

6. “The Epic” by Kamasi Washington (2015)

Genre: Jazz Fusion

Standout Tracks: “Change of the Guard,” “Re Run Home,” “Miss Understanding” The Epic is a monumental three-hour journey through jazz, soul, and orchestral music, demonstrating Kamasi Washington’s grand vision for modern jazz. The album’s sprawling compositions and bold arrangements create a cinematic feel that has captured the attention of both jazz enthusiasts and casual listeners alike. If you’re looking to get lost in an album that stretches the boundaries of jazz, The Epic is essential.

7. “Emily’s D+Evolution” by Esperanza Spalding (2016)

Genre: Jazz Fusion / Rock

Standout Tracks: “Good Lava,” “Unconditional Love,” “Earth to Heaven” Esperanza Spalding, a Grammy-winning bassist, continues to challenge the limits of jazz with Emily’s D+Evolution. The album incorporates elements of rock, funk, and poetry, exploring themes of self-discovery and creativity. It’s a bold and refreshing album that shows how jazz can intersect with other genres in unexpected ways.

8. “Yesterday You Said Tomorrow” by Christian Scott (2010)

Genre: Jazz Fusion

Standout Tracks: “K.K.P.D.,” “Isadora,” “The Eraser” Christian Scott’s Yesterday You Said Tomorrow confronts social issues through jazz, blending trumpet-led compositions with hip-hop, rock, and funk. This politically charged album is a powerful reminder of how jazz can reflect and respond to the times. It’s an essential listen for those interested in how modern jazz tackles social themes.

9. “The Source” by Tony Allen (2017)

Genre: Jazz Fusion / Afrobeat

Standout Tracks: “Moody Boy,” “On Fire,” “Push and Pull” Known as the godfather of Afrobeat, Tony Allen’s The Source merges Afrobeat with jazz in a way that feels both authentic and innovative. The album’s rhythmic complexity and infectious grooves make it a standout piece, demonstrating Allen’s mastery in creating a seamless fusion of genres.

10. “Laila’s Wisdom” by Rapsody (2017)

Genre: Jazz Hip-Hop

Standout Tracks: “Power,” “Ridin’,” “You Should Know” While primarily a hip-hop album, Rapsody’s Laila’s Wisdom carries jazz influences that make it a refreshing crossover work. By collaborating with jazz-influenced artists and incorporating live instrumentation, Rapsody creates a sound that feels nostalgic yet modern. This album is ideal for fans of both jazz and hip-hop who are looking for innovative cross-genre albums.

11. “Awase” by Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin (2018)

Genre: Jazz / Minimalism

Standout Tracks: “Modul 60,” “Modul 36,” “A” Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch’s Awase combines jazz and minimalism, creating a hypnotic and meditative atmosphere. With repetitive motifs and intricate arrangements, Awase is a minimalist jazz album that creates a unique listening experience, ideal for those who appreciate understated, rhythmic innovation.

12. “Fly or Die” by Jaimie Branch (2017)

Genre: Avant-Garde Jazz

Standout Tracks: “Theme Nothing,” “Leaves of Glass,” “The Storm” Trumpeter Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die is a fierce and energetic album that brings a raw, avant-garde spirit to jazz. Its bold improvisation and unique compositions make it one of the great albums you may have missed if you’re into jazz that breaks the rules and takes you on a thrilling musical journey.

Conclusion

The world of modern jazz is filled with great albums you may have missed, each representing the genre’s evolution and endless potential. These 12 albums showcase a range of styles—from jazz fusion and Afrobeat to minimalism and avant-garde—that reflect the dynamic spirit of contemporary jazz. Listening to these albums allows you to explore jazz’s transformation, appreciate its cultural relevance, and witness how today’s artists continue to honor and expand on the genre’s rich legacy.

Jazz’s beauty lies in its ability to adapt and integrate with other genres, creating music that feels fresh, relevant, and full of emotion. Whether you’re seeking soulful vocal jazz, politically charged compositions, or minimalist soundscapes, these hidden gems are sure to elevate your appreciation for modern jazz. Don’t miss out on discovering these great albums you may have missed that represent the future of jazz while honoring its past.

[lboogie1906]

Robert Nathaniel Dett (October 11, 1882 – October 2, 1943) from a precocious five-year-old piano player to an internationally known choral director, composer, concert pianist, and poet, became champion for the preservation of the African American spiritual which he called authentic American folk music: He dedicated his life to finding a musical form to bridge the gap between the music’s simple origins and its concert performance.

He was born in Drummondville, Ontario. His early experience included absorbing spirituals his grandmother sang, playing piano in church, and studying piano locally. He then majored in piano and composition at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. He was the first African American to graduate from Oberlin after winning Phi Beta Kappa honors. His formal education continued throughout his life including studies at Harvard University where his 1920 essay “Negro Music” won a prize. He received an MA from the Eastman School of Music.

He published his only book of poetry, The Album of the Heart. He began touring as a concert pianist. He married Helen Elise Smith, a pianist and the first African American graduate of the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art.

After teaching at several HBCUs in the South, he became the music director at the Hampton Institute. His 40-voice Hampton Singers performed at Carnegie Hall in 1914. His choirs gained fame singing across the US and at the Library of Congress. His choirs performed at the White House before Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. He and his choir toured five European countries.

He published more than 200 piano, vocal, and choral works. Major chorus works include Chariot Jubilee and an oratorio, The Ordering of Moses, which was drawn from his master’s thesis at the Eastman School of Music. Popular favorites were Listen to the Lambs, Don’t Be Weary, Traveler, and Juba.

He moved to Rochester, taught privately, and led a sixteen-voice chorus for weekly radio broadcasts. He continued to teach at several colleges.

He was survived by his wife and two daughters. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #phibetakappa

[drmajalis]

During the 1930s, Robert Moses led a massive redevelopment of New York that included building dozens of new expressways linking communities to new public beaches, parks, and other amenities. He did this by openly, and unapologetically by demolishing black neighbourhoods and bulldozing their houses to build the roads over. He did this even when more direct routes were available, and when those new roads were finished, he often had low clearence bridges placed over them that would prevent city buses from passing under them to those new public places, which effectively blocked many Black Americans from travelling to them, as many relied on public transportation. Cities around America copied Moses' redevelopment plans to a tee, and when Levittown, New York, the country's first modern suburban project opened, it was explicitly a whites only community. Every subsequent levittown and suburb up until past the civil rights movement was, and meanwhile those remaining black neighbourhoods which weren't demolished had their property values obliterated as funding went away from cities and to these new suburbs, and they deal with chronic health issues to this day as a result of living next to loud, polluting highways on all sides. White Americans destroyed their own cities, they destroyed their walkability, their mixed used urban environment, their character, in the name of segregation and racism. You cannot separate the issues faced by modern urban planners from the racism that led to them, you cannot separate the anti-urbanist screed from wanting to continue that racism. They decided they would prefer to live in worse cities with worse utilities and more unhappiness if it meant Black Americans would be worse off. That's just it.

The amount of people getting 0 upvotes for calling this shit ugly is kaczynski inducing