Segregation by Design

Latest updates on “Reconnecting Communities” news, arrayed along two axes: one comparing progress towards reconnection vs. the opposite; and another transformative change (for better or worse) vs. incremental. More info and links: www.segregationbydesign.com/reconnection...

This circa 1925 NYTM Collection map was the first to show NYC's full rapid transit network after the system’s expansion in the 1920s.

🗺️ This circa 1925 #NYTMCollection map was the first to show #NYC's full rapid transit network after the system’s expansion in the 1920s.

Paradise Valley, Detroit, before-and-after highway construction and urban renewal (seen in a publicity photo of the Graf Zeppelin making its way back from the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago). More info and photos of the neighborhood here: segregationbydesign.com/detroit/hast...

Corktown, Detroit, before-and-after federal highway construction and “urban renewal” in the 1960s and 70s, which leveled much of the neighborhood and displaced thousands of residents. More photos and information: www.segregationbydesign.com/detroit/cork...

Paradise Valley, Detroit, seen on a John Lee Hooker album cover that captures the neighborhood before it was demolished for construction of the Chrysler Freeway and “urban renewal” in the 1960s. More info: www.segregationbydesign.com/detroit/hast...

Latest updates on “Reconnecting Communities” news, arrayed along two axes: one comparing progress towards reconnection vs. the opposite; and another transformative change (for better or worse) vs. incremental. More info and links: www.segregationbydesign.com/reconnection...

NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by 22% in Manhattan, study finds Since New York City introduced congestion pricing in January 2025, the state has heralded significant reductions in traffic and rush hour delays, fewer crashes and noise complaints, and toll revenue p...

"In the first six months of the program, air pollution—in the form of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller—dropped by 22% in the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ)... The team also reported declines across the city's five boroughs and surrounding suburbs."

Rochester, NY, before-and-after the first phase of the Inner Loop Removal project in 2014-17, which started the process of reconnecting the neighborhoods the highway had long separated from Downtown. More info: www.segregationbydesign.com/rochester-ny...

Were you at the event on Wednesday? Sorry we didn't get a chance to say hi!

Yes definitely! Exactly where that fits. Thanks for the tip. Will mention it in the next one (aiming for a two week cadence).

Latest updates on “Reconnecting Communities” news, arrayed along two axes: one comparing progress towards reconnection vs. the opposite; and another transformative change (for better or worse) vs. incremental. More info and links: www.segregationbydesign.com/reconnection...

Overview of mid-October “Reconnecting Communities” news, arrayed along two axes: one comparing progress towards reconnection vs. the opposite; and another transformative change (for better or worse) vs. incremental. More info and links: www.segregationbydesign.com/reconnection...

Overview of September “Reconnecting Communities” news, arrayed along two axes: one comparing progress towards reconnection vs. the opposite; and another transformative change (for better or worse) vs. more status quo developments. More info and links: www.segregationbydesign.com/reconnection...

YouTube video by Daniel Steiner U.S. Highway Map, Explained

Great explainer video on how the construction of the interstate highway system destroyed cities and created more segregation. Ft/ @segbydesign.bsky.social
youtu.be/Sr2F4OZSETE?...

According to official sources, highway construction and “urban renewal” in Detroit displaced roughly 43,000 people during the 1950s/60s. Historians estimate the number to be far higher—closer to 100,000. More info: www.segregationbydesign.com/detroit/i75375

LA’s original Chinatown, before-and-after it was entirely demolished for the construction of Union Station, the Hollywood Freeway, and the creation of “Civic Center” between the 1930s-1950s. More info and images here: www.segregationbydesign.com/los-angeles/...

‘The Story of the BQE’ documentary showcases epic neighborhood destruction Perhaps no transportation issue has galvanized the borough of Brooklyn more than the state of the crumbling, polluting and divisive BQE.

Thank you to everybody who came to our events last week in Brooklyn! We screened the short documentary I put together about the history of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and had some great discussions about the future of New York. We are planning more screenings for the summer and fall—stay tuned!

From @segbydesign.bsky.social’s Insta story Insta highlighting a point @pastpunditry.bsky.social (made on @thisdaypod.com):

It’s important to pay attention to what they’re *not* dismantling in the federal gov’t. They’re “preserving state capacity to create an explicitly white supremacist state.”

EPA Removes EJScreen from its Website – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative On February 5th, EPA removed several web pages about the environmental justice mapping and screening tool, EJScreen, as well as the tool itself. These pages, which now cannot be accessed or simply say...

On February 5th, EPA removed from its website the environmental justice mapping and screening tool, EJScreen, as well as several related web pages.

Learn more:
envirodatagov.org/epa-removes-...

Some good Reconnecting Communities (RCP) projects in the batch. Hopefully this is not the last we will be seeing of Mayor Pete.

And more info specifically about this incident here: laist.com/news/found-i...

Specifically, the Northern District was discontinued, shown in green on this map. More info about Aliso here: www.segregationbydesign.com/los-angeles/...

View of Aliso St. in Downtown LA, before-and-after it was transformed into a frontage road for the 101. Aliso was the Pacific Electric's only route across the LA River, and conversion of the street to a highway in 1951 resulted in the abandonment of all lines east of the river.

Before the station was replaced with a highway ramp, it was one of the primary commercial anchors and economic drivers of West Broad Street, historically the heart of Savannah’s Black and immigrant community.

Savannah Union Station before-and-after it was demolished for construction of I-16 and “urban renewal” in the 1960s. More info: www.segregationbydesign.com/savannah/uni...

Today we work with the descendants of the Williams family as accountability partners in bring Dreamland into a contemporary context. We use film to spark community imagination around who we are as individuals, as a community, and around the future and lands we share.