How Highways Ruined Cities?

Highways — the veins of modern cities, moving millions of cars and trucks every day. But here’s the dirty secret: these highways didn’t just connect cities; they ruined them. Yes, the same roads that make your morning commute possible also tore apart thriving neighborhoods, displaced thousands of families, and left gaping wounds in the heart of cities.

Today, we’re diving into “How Highways Ruined Cities,” exploring how the U.S. interstate system and figures like Robert Moses reshaped — or rather, disfigured — the urban landscape. So buckle up, because this ride isn’t pretty.

The U.S. Interstate Highway System: A Dream Turns Sour

Let’s start with the U.S. Interstate Highway System, a project hailed as one of the greatest achievements in American infrastructure. It all began in 1956 with the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which launched the construction of over 41,000 miles of highways across the United States. The goal? To link every major city, boost the economy, and make driving more efficient.

Sounds great, right? Well, here’s the catch: highways didn’t just pass through empty fields. They were often built right through urban neighborhoods, especially in low-income areas and communities of color. And nowhere was this more destructive than in cities like Detroit.

 

Detroit and the I-375 Freeway

Detroit was once the beating heart of the American automotive industry, but its story took a sharp detour with the construction of highways like I-375. Built in the 1960s, I-375 plowed through the heart of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley — two thriving African American neighborhoods filled with businesses, jazz clubs, and homes.

In its place? A concrete scar.

The construction of I-375 displaced over 100,000 residents and destroyed nearly 2,800 homes. Black Bottom, once a vibrant cultural hub, was literally bulldozed to make way for a highway that ultimately contributed to Detroit’s economic and social decline. The new highway severed the community from the downtown area and made it harder for businesses to thrive.

But Detroit wasn’t alone in this story of urban destruction.

 

Robert Moses: The Man Who Shaped (and Dismantled) New York City

Now, we can’t talk about highways and their impact without mentioning Robert Moses, the man behind many of New York City’s highways, bridges, and parks. Moses was a visionary urban planner, but he had a notorious obsession with building roads — no matter the cost.

Between the 1930s and 1960s, Moses constructed over 13 expressways across New York City, including the Cross Bronx Expressway and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. His projects displaced more than 250,000 residents across the city, forever altering its landscape.

 

The Cross Bronx Expressway

Let’s zoom in on the Cross Bronx Expressway. When Moses proposed this six-lane highway in the late 1940s, it cut through one of the most densely populated and stable neighborhoods in the Bronx — East Tremont.

Fun fact (but not so fun for residents): To make way for the highway, Moses bulldozed through 600 apartment buildings, displacing around 60,000 people. The expressway severed the Bronx, dividing it into northern and southern halves. Property values plummeted, and entire communities were left devastated by noise pollution, increased traffic, and worsening air quality.

Over the decades, the Bronx saw a rise in crime and poverty, with some blaming the Cross Bronx Expressway for accelerating the borough’s decline in the 1970s. This once-thriving middle-class neighborhood was left in ruins, and Moses’s grand vision of efficiency came at the expense of the people who lived there.

 

Why Highways Targeted Certain Communities

But why were these highways always cutting through minority and low-income neighborhoods? Well, it wasn’t by accident. In fact, redlining and racist housing policies played a huge role.

Redlining, a practice where banks and insurance companies refused to offer loans or coverage in predominantly Black neighborhoods, left these areas vulnerable. Since they were deemed "undesirable," city planners saw them as the perfect location for highways, thinking it was better to build there than through affluent, politically powerful communities.

The result? Urban decay, the collapse of vibrant neighborhoods, and the rise of suburban sprawl, as wealthier, predominantly white residents fled to the suburbs, leaving the city’s core to rot.

Highways were kind of like the original “ghosting” — except instead of disappearing from a text conversation, people disappeared from entire neighborhoods.

 

The Suburban Dream and Urban Decline

Highways didn’t just destroy urban neighborhoods; they fueled the suburban dream. In the post-war era, Americans were eager to leave the crowded, noisy city for the spacious, picket-fenced suburbs. The new highway system made this possible by enabling people to live farther from their jobs and still commute relatively easily.

By the 1960s, over 60 million Americans had moved to the suburbs, encouraged by government incentives like low-interest home loans and, of course, the sprawling network of interstate highways. Cities, meanwhile, were left with declining tax bases, abandoned buildings, and neighborhoods torn apart by the very highways meant to connect them.

Fun fact: Between 1950 and 1980, cities like St. Louis and Cleveland lost nearly half their populations as residents fled to the suburbs. This hollowing-out of cities contributed to the rise of urban blight — abandoned, decaying buildings that stood in stark contrast to the shiny new suburban developments.

 

The Environmental Costs of Highways

It’s not just communities that paid the price for highways; the environment suffered too. Highways encourage car dependency, which means more traffic, more fuel consumption, and more greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, transportation is responsible for nearly 30% of all U.S. carbon emissions, with highways playing a major role.

Moreover, the construction of highways often led to the destruction of natural habitats and green spaces. For example, when Interstate 5 was built along the West Coast, it cut through wetlands, forests, and wildlife habitats, leaving a trail of ecological damage in its wake.

 

Can We Fix It? The Future of Highways

So, after all this damage, is there any hope for our cities? Well, some cities are starting to recognize the havoc highways have wreaked and are working to undo the damage.

Take San Francisco, for example. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Embarcadero Freeway, the city decided not to rebuild it. Instead, they replaced it with a beautiful waterfront boulevard and public spaces, reconnecting the city with its bay. Property values shot up, tourism increased, and the area became one of San Francisco’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

Another example is Rochester, New York, which removed a portion of its inner loop highway in 2017. By filling in the road and replacing it with housing, bike lanes, and pedestrian paths, the city was able to revitalize the downtown area and promote sustainable urban living.

 

Conclusion: Highways Shaped, and Sometimes Destroyed, Our Cities

Highways were built to bring us together, but they ended up tearing many communities apart. From Detroit’s Black Bottom to New York’s East Tremont, the legacy of highways is one of displacement, environmental damage, and urban decay.

But it doesn’t have to stay this way. Cities around the world are rethinking their relationship with highways, focusing on public transit, walkability, and reconnecting neighborhoods that were once divided.

The secret to a healthy city isn’t more highways — it’s more human-centered design. After all, cities are for people, not cars.