The Interstate Highway System’s legacy in America
We’ve already seen how Americans were sold on the Interstate Highway System as it started to connect cities across the country in the Fifties and we’ve seen how, less than a decade later, Americans had already grown weary of the inefficiencies and dangers of personal transportation as a primary and sole means of movement. So perhaps now would be a good time to review just what the country gained – and lost – with the interstates.
As pointed out in “Divided Highways” – a 1997 PBS documentary that takes a comprehensive look at how the Interstate Highway System came to be and relies on interviews with historians, planners, philosophers, columnists, economists, and even Dave Barry and Tom and Ray Magliozzi – the interstates have indeed connected Americans and opened up the country to commerce, exploration, and geographic mobility like never before.
The Interstate Highway System’s legacy in America
Related – When the highway came to Hilldale: A look at how the interstate system was sold to America