What regions have been helped/hurt the most by the Interstate system?

[planxtymcgillicuddy]

What regions/sections of the US have benefitted the most from the Interstate system, and conversely, what regions have been hurt the most by it? And an extension of this, what Interstate corridors do you believe prosper the most, and what Interstate corridors do you believe hurt the most?

[jeffandnicole]

Any city in the interior of the US has benefited.  Prior to the interstate system, most large cities were located along waterways.  Goods could easily be transported via ship.  With the interstate system bringing a hub and spoke type network to cities, interior cities found themselves with the ability to help that freight move along.

[GCrites]

Helped the most? The South and Florida. California had quite a bit too, but mostly for travel within the state.

[SkyPesos]

Suburbia and the Sun Belt

[hbelkins]

Helped? All of them.

Hurt? Small towns on non-interstate corridors bypassed by the freeway system.

[Henry]

Looking back on all the planning that has been going on for the past 65 years, I'd say that the big cities have been hurt by the system, mainly because of the freeway revolts that removed many of the corridors from their plans. Granted, the poorest areas were targeted in those cities, and they didn't even clear the slums like their names implied; instead, they sent the slums into even worse conditions than before, which, unfortunately, is still prevalent now.

[JayhawkCO]

Not a region, but Trinidad, Colorado probably got hurt the most (of cities in Colorado) by the introduction of the interstate system when it completely bisected downtown.  It's a pretty area, and I can't help but think it would be a more popular tourist spot if it were able to maintain its historic city center.

[zachary_amaryllis]

western nebraska. there's a town oh every 5-10 miles or so on us 30, then along comes i-80. now every one of those towns has a 'leg' out to the interstate with some weird indecipherable nebraska number on it, and a gas station there.

i would imagine all these towns were more than they are now before the interstate.

[Avalanchez71]

It hurt Wallace, ID.

[SEWIGuy]

western nebraska. there's a town oh every 5-10 miles or so on us 30, then along comes i-80. now every one of those towns has a 'leg' out to the interstate with some weird indecipherable nebraska number on it, and a gas station there.

i would imagine all these towns were more than they are now before the interstate.

Right.  But that's not just because of the interstate though.

[roadman65]

US 301 between Santee, SC and into Georgia.

The road is four lanes in SC due to it once being a major through route for those who didn't want to use the longer US 1 and much longer coastal US 17.   Even remnants of old roadside stands remain that relied on travelers who now use I-95 to go through SC.

Nowadays that stretch of Highway could be given a road diet and narrow it back down as traffic counts don't even warrant four lanes.

[Chris19001]

For "hurt"  I'd skip region and just nominate Chester, PA.  It lost both the shipyards and Baldwin locomotive since the Interstate Highway Act.  Now both are certainly indirect effects, and Chester has I-95 running through downtown, but that city is a mess in almost every way.

[Bruce]

Hurt: Any city that had an interstate bisect a real neighborhood (which is most of them).

Interstates should have never been allowed to plow through cities. What a travesty.

[kalvado]

Hurt: Any city that had an interstate bisect a real neighborhood (which is most of them).

Interstates should have never been allowed to plow through cities. What a travesty.

Now would a city be anything what it is without the interstate? People tend to live along the road.
As for bisecting - look at the suburbs. There is development on both sides of highway creating similar geometry.
I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

[hotdogPi]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

[kalvado]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

Only because people moved even further. -20% population over 60 years.

[SEWIGuy]

Hurt: Any city that had an interstate bisect a real neighborhood (which is most of them).

Interstates should have never been allowed to plow through cities. What a travesty.

Now would a city be anything what it is without the interstate? People tend to live along the road.
As for bisecting - look at the suburbs. There is development on both sides of highway creating similar geometry.
I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

Big cities would have been fine with the interstates running along the outskirts with arterials carrying the traffic into the city.  That's pretty much how it works in Europe.

[Rothman]

Hurt: Any city that had an interstate bisect a real neighborhood (which is most of them).

Interstates should have never been allowed to plow through cities. What a travesty.

Now would a city be anything what it is without the interstate? People tend to live along the road.
As for bisecting - look at the suburbs. There is development on both sides of highway creating similar geometry.
I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

Big cities would have been fine with the interstates running along the outskirts with arterials carrying the traffic into the city.  That's pretty much how it works in Europe.

Big cities were fine with Interstates plowing through undesirable neighborhoods and facilitating suburb to core commuters.

[roadman65]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

It did in Kokomo in another part of the state. That is why the freeway was built for US 31, as the 1957 bypass just had the city expand outwards more. Now with an interchange on Markland Avenue which is just to the east of a highly developed area of retail, how long will it take to build more businesses in between?

[JayhawkCO]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

Only because people moved even further. -20% population over 60 years.

Fort Collins, Colorado.

[SkyPesos]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

It did in Kokomo in another part of the state. That is why the freeway was built for US 31, as the 1957 bypass just had the city expand outwards more. Now with an interchange on Markland Avenue which is just to the east of a highly developed area of retail, how long will it take to build more businesses in between?

Something similar with Kokomo seem to be happening in Myrtle Beach, SC too.

[US 89]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

Only because people moved even further. -20% population over 60 years.

Fort Collins, Colorado.

Fort Collins is different though because it's a college town. Colorado State is not about to pack up its entire campus and move just because an interstate got built 4 miles from downtown.

[JayhawkCO]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

Only because people moved even further. -20% population over 60 years.

Fort Collins, Colorado.

Fort Collins is different though because it's a college town. Colorado State is not about to pack up its entire campus and move just because an interstate got built 4 miles from downtown.

Fine. Go south then.  Loveland, Colorado.

[kalvado]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

Only because people moved even further. -20% population over 60 years.

Fort Collins, Colorado.

And the point is?
How long did it take to walk across either Fort Collins or Loveland when the highway was built?

[zachary_amaryllis]

I suspect that if highway bypassed the city, city itself would effectively move to the highway.

It didn't happen with Evansville, IN.

Only because people moved even further. -20% population over 60 years.

Fort Collins, Colorado.

can't believe i missed that says guy lives ... well close to.. there.

windsor used to sit more or less in the center of a triangle, of which foco, loveland, and greeley were the vertices.

now windsor extends to i-25 (don't know if its actually in their city limits, but has windsor zip code and phone #'s). plus, with the (re?)-designation of that road westbound as co-392, that's no longer a good sneak into the south end. used to be really fast when it was just cr-30.

harmony used to be a fast 5 minute drive to the interstate when i was a kid (back when it was co-68), but with all the businesses along it, forget that. and now there's lights east of the interstate. the one for weitzel drive (aka walmart/costco) is just a a terrible intersection. another sign of my little town growing up is that there's now a ramp meter as you enter sb i-25 from harmony, though i've never seen it active.

mulberry has less lights on it, but they are badly timed imho, and has a really bad light just east of the interstate that controls mulberry, a frontage road, and a side street all at once.

prospect i think is getting 4-laned out to past the interstate soon.