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Lädt ... Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles (2021. Auflage)von Paul Haddad (Autor)
Werk-InformationenFreewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles von Paul Haddad
Keine Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch.  deusvitae | Oct 9, 2023 |  keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles explores how social, economic, political, and cultural demands created the web of freeways whose very form--futuristic, majestic, and progressive--perfectly exemplifies the City of Angels. From the Arroyo Seco Parkway, which began construction during the Great Depression, to the Century Freeway, completed in 1993, author Paul Haddad provides an entertaining and thought-provoking history of the 527 miles of roadways that comprise the Los Angeles freeway system. Each of Los Angeles's twelve freeways receives its own chapter, and these are supplemented by "Off-Ramps"--sidebars that dish out pithy factoids about Botts' Dots, SigAlerts, and all matter of freeway lexicon, such as why Southern Californians are the only people in the country who place the word "the" in front of their interstates, as in "the 5," or "the 101." Freewaytopia also explores those routes that never saw the light of day. Imagine superhighways burrowing through Laurel Canyon, tunneling under the Hollywood Sign, or spanning the waters of Santa Monica Bay. With a few more legislative strokes of the pen, you wouldn't have to imagine them--they'd already exist. Haddad notably gives voice to those individuals whose lives were inextricably connected--for better or worse--to the city's freeways: The hundreds of thousands of mostly minority and low-income residents who protested against their displacement as a result of eminent domain. Women engineers who excelled in a man's field. Elected officials who helped further freeways . . . or stop them dead in their tracks. He pays tribute to the corps of civic and state highway employees whose collective vision, expertise, and dedication created not just the most famous freeway network in the world, but feats of engineering that, at their best, achieve architectural poetry. And let's not forget the beauty queens--no freeway in Los Angeles ever opened without their royal presence. Freewaytopia is part colorful lore, part civic and historical critique, and part homage to the most famous freeways in the world. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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 Google Books — Lädt ...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)388.4110979493Social sciences Commerce, Communications, Transportation Transportation Local transportation Vehicular and pedestrian traffic Urban streetsKlassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt: (3.33)
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And so Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles (galley indeed received as part of early review program) is just catnip for Angelenos: the history of our common obsession!
The author cleverly begins and concludes the work with “begin freeway” and “end freeway,” just like freeways themselves do. He chronicles the development of most of the freeways of Los Angeles in somewhat chronological order (complicated by how many were being developed at the same time). It all begins with the Arroyo Seco (now CA 110); continues with the Hollywood Freeway (CA-134, US 101); and then expands with the Golden State Freeway (I-5), the Ventura Freeway (US 101), the Foothill Freeway (CA-210 and I-210), the Harbor Freeway (I-110), the San Diego Freeway (I-405), the Glendale Freeway (CA-2), the Marina Freeway (CA-90), the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10), and finally, and very much lastly, the Century Freeway (I-105). The Santa Ana Freeway (I-5), the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10), the Long Beach Freeway (I-705), the Pomona Freeway (CA-60), and the San Gabriel Freeway (I-605) are either tangentially discussed or otherwise omitted.
The author describes the plans for the freeways, the complications which arose in development, how many were displaced, and notable incidents which have come to define the various freeways. The overall story is heard many times: the optimistic, starry-eyed promise of freeways in the early days, the freeway mania of the middle of the 20th century, and then the disillusionment and rise in discontent with further freeway development in the latter part of the 20th century. Thus we learn of many suggested freeways which never got off the ground; we also see how many freeways as they are today are only a fraction of the original plan.
The author does well at trying to keep the narrative as light and fun as possible while recognizing the darker realities behind how the freeways were developed and the kind of people who were generally displaced in their construction.
If you’re interested at all in the story of Los Angeles and its freeways, this is a great resource for you. (