Highways to Hell

In the middle of the Twentieth Century new highways were driven through a large number of American cities, ruining the character of many neighborhoods for ever.

The Institute for Quality Communities at the University of Oklahoma has put together a series of historical and modern aerial images to show the impact of mid-Twentieth Century urban renewal on American cities. 60 Years of Urban Change allows you to compare historical aerial images of a number of America's biggest cities with aerial imagery of the same areas, showing how they look today.

By comparing the modern and historical aerial imagery it is possible to see the impact of the mid-century construction boom on many of these cities. New highways, parking lots, housing projects and mega-structures were built at the expense of small lots of integrated streets and tight communities.

Hopefully in another 60 years the University of Oklahoma will be able to repeat the exercise to show how much cities have improved thanks to the replacement of inner-city highways with vast networks of bike paths.