The Interstate Highway Act was proclaimed the "largest public works
program since the Pyramids" when it was passed in 1956. Now it is being hailed as the single
most important influence on the American metropolis in the last 50 years.
That distinction was bestowed on the 41,000-mile highway system and the
dominance of the automobile by 149 members of the American City and Regional Planning
History, an interdisciplinary professional organization composed of urban historians,
social scientists, planning faculty and working planners and architects.
The Interstate highway system "transformed the American metropolis in
ways its planners never anticipated," says Robert Fishman, a history professor at Rutgers
University who led a panel of urban specialists in developing a list of 25 possible choices for
the past as well as the future. "More than any other measure, the 1956 highway act created the
decentralized, automobile-dependent metropolis we know today."
Tomorrow, we'll cover the ten most likely major influences over the next half-century.
For now, lets look at the highway act and some of the other ten most important influences of the
last 50 years, including the Federal Housing Administration, urban renewal,
Levittown, enclosed shopping malls and air conditioning.
The highway system was supposed to save central cities by rescuing them from
automobile congestion, and to provide high-speed, cost-to-coast travel "without a traffic light."
But instead, they themselves became clogged with cars moving in and out of
downtown, and their construction destroyed many viable urban neighborhoods.
At the same time, the new peripheral by-passes known as beltways that were intended to
allow traveler to go around crowded cities turned into main streets themselves, linking housing-
hungry families to cheap rural land. In turn, the houses, shopping centers
and office parks they bred drew people out of the city core and into suburbia.
The experts also recognized that the suburbs were built on the FHA's
low-downpayment, long-term fixed rate mortgage, which was developed to replace the 50 percent
down, five-year loans that were normal prior to the post-war era.
"By the seemingly simple expedient of insuring loans issued by federally-chartered thrift
institutions against default, the FHA created the financial instrument that
would raise American home ownership from 44 percent in 1940 to the record 67 percent of today,"
Fishman points out.
But the FHA also was responsible for a couple of other things it rarely gets credit for. For
one thing, it imposed standards for both home and subdivision design that
quickly became the norms for the home building business. But for another, it limited loans to
what amounted to race-restricted new housing in the suburbs, in effect excluding minorities from
access to better lives.
Here's a rundown on the other eight most important influences on the American landscape:
De-Industrialization: Searching for cheaper labor outside older urban
centers, industry could not resist the tax breaks and other subsidies offered by suburban and
rural jurisdictions. And as production shifted, "jobs moved first to the suburbs, then to the
Sunbelt and finally out of the country," notes Fishman.
Urban Renewal: The goal of the Housing Act of 1949 was to provide "a
decent home and suitable living environment for every American," and the landmark law
helped rid cities of some of their worst slums. But it also was responsible for leveling many
close-knit neighborhoods that were replaced with sterile superblocks of high-rise towers
that eventually also torn down.
Levittown: The 17,000 houses that William Levitt built on potato fields on Long
Island became the symbol of suburbanization. But they also pioneered the mass
production of tract housing, techniques that were so effective they became the norm. And
that, along with better financing, meant it was often cheaper to buy than to rent.
Segregation: Simply stated, Blacks were forced to live in what
amounted to ghettos, where they paid high rents for inferior housing, and relegated to the
lowest-paying, dead-end jobs. And though such practices were outlawed in the 1960s, they continued to
flourish, denying African Americans the ability to assimilate into the suburban middle class.
Enclosed Malls: Since the first climate-controlled shopping center opened in Edina,
Minn., in 1956, the enclosed mall has overwhelmed old downtown shopping districts. They also
encouraged the growth of national franchise stores at the expense of local,
one-of-a-kind retailing.
Sunbelt-style Sprawl: As developers move further and further out,
metro regions grew into what Fishman calls "centerless, borderless agglomerations...spread out
in seemingly random order" and totally dependent on the automobile.
Air Conditioning: The rise of the sunbelt and the enclosed mall would
not have been possible without a/c, which helped transform some of most inhospitable places
into fast-growing metropolises. Today, more than 80 percent of all new homes are centrally air
conditioned.
Urban Riots: The full impact of racial discrimination remained all but hidden from
most of white America until the urban riots of the '60s. But they also hastened white flight,
which led to even greater depopulation, de-industrialization and abandoned inner-city housing.
Important Influences Of The Past And The Future: Part II
Published: January 3, 2000
Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.
 When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated.
He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year.
Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association.
He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He
held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972.
The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country.
He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others.
Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven. |
