Midwest Cities Eviscerated By Expressways & "Urban Renewal": 1950 vs. Today sliders

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Ok good point, but I still don't think it compares to NYC's losses (or Paris's). Would you say it would have been equivalent to the loss of Over the Rhine in Cincinnati? This is indeed sad.

i would say that the loss of the STL riverfront is at least comparable to the losses in over the rhine. not because the architecture was necessarily "better" than over the rhine's, but because it was the only such district in STL and, as i said earlier, the second largest such district (cast-iron fronted) in the US. although the density of the two areas looks to have been similar, the riverfront was smaller and is almost completely gone whereas it looks like much of over the rhine still stands.

but again, STL lost much more than just the riverfront. although i don't think any of the losses were as dense as over the rhine, large swaths of 2-3 story row houses and victorian homes were razed. For example, the STL Mill Creek Valley neighborhood that Centropolis posted above was basically a denser Lafayette Square replete with three-story Italianates and elaborate stone and marble-faced "painted ladies". And as STL's wealth moved westward, several "private places" lined with mansions (e.g. Lucas Place and Lewis Place) were abandoned and bulldozed. Check out some of the remaining private places for reference: From the New York Social Diary: Big Old Houses: Oz in St. Louis.

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

In NYC, Penn Station could have been the US' Pantheon [sic], 1000-2000 years from now it should have been standing for tourists to look at. Same for many of the park avenue mansions. Instead, gone in a short 60 years. These buildings would be almost impossible to recreate now, the sheer volume of stone alone.

Certainly NYC is the king of large/tall buildings, which would be much more difficult to recreate using traditional materials than smaller ones. Agreed. As for Penn Station, while it's a nice looking building, and quite large, I don't see it as particularly more attractive than many other historic train stations across the US, many of which could serve as our Parthenon IMHO.

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

We could easily recreate the urban experience these pics show in most US cities, if not the architecture. 2-3 story rowhouses and small apartments are very easy to build. Sure they would lack the cast-iron, but from a functionally urbanist standpoint, they would be identical.

Well, we could recreate the form at least, but I think the "urban experience" derives from more than just the form. I mean, by that logic we could replace all of NYC with buildings of similar form (but, say, much lower quality) and the experience would be the same.