And all of this increased dependency on the car. Before 1920, most American city dwellers had commuted to work on foot or by public transport. But during the 1950s commuting by car became the norm and has been ever since: today eight in ten Americans drive to work, usually alone. Zoning rules contributed to car dependency in the new suburbs by stri

Futurama had popularized the notion of superhighways among policymakers and the American public alike, laying the ground for a postwar boom in highway construction. Its centerpiece was the Highway Act of 1956, which allocated billions of dollars to construct an interstate highway system. Construction of intercity highways was for the most part unco

Having long been shared by pedestrians and horse-drawn vehicles, and used as public spaces where children played and pushcart vendors plied their trade, streets were now having to make room for increasing numbers of streetcars, cyclists, and, most of all, automobiles.