10 Streets That Changed America

THIS STREET DROVE AMERICA TOWARD REVOLUTION.

THIS STREET FUELED WESTERN EXPANSION.

AND THIS STREET PAVED THE WAY FOR THE SHOPPING MALL.

ALL OF THESE MADE THE LIST OF 10 STREETS THAT CHANGED AMERICA.

I'M GEOFFREY BAER, AND I'LL BE YOUR GUIDE.

GEOFFREY: AS WE WALK A FORMER NATIVE AMERICAN ROAD IN NEW YORK AND CRUISE THE MOTOR CITY STREET WHERE THE CAR BECAME KING.

THE MODERN AMERICAN HIGHWAY REALLY BEGINS RIGHT HERE.

HOW 'BOUT IT?

GEOFFREY: WE'LL TAKE A CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP ON A HISTORIC HIGHWAY AND HITCH A RIDE ON A 200 YEAR OLD TOLL ROAD.

WE'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT A ROAD THAT IS VERY RUSTIC.

MY TEETH ARE RATTLING IN MY HEAD.

GEOFFREY: AND WE REMEMBER A FORMER FINANCIAL CAPITAL THAT WAS DESTROYED BY A VIOLENT MOB.

FIND OUT WHICH STREETS MADE THE LIST.

GEOFFREY: OF 10 STREETS THAT CHANGED AMERICA.

NOW, LET'S VISIT 10 STREETS THAT CHANGED AMERICA, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

STARTING WITH A FORMER NATIVE AMERICAN ROAD.

GEOFFREY: LET'S TURN BACK THE CLOCK 400 YEARS BEFORE CARS AND EVEN CARRIAGES.

BROADWAY WAS A MAJOR ROUTE THROUGH MANHATTAN.

AND LIKE EVERY EARLY NATIVE AMERICAN ROAD IT WAS A PERFECT PATH FOR PEDESTRIANS.

DAN: THEY PICKED THE HIGHEST GROUND AT MANHATTAN.

SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE TOPOGRAPHY OF BROADWAY IT WAS FOLLOWING A VERY LOGICAL PATH ON GOOD STABLE SOILS THAT WERE WELL DRAINED.

GEOFFREY: NATIVE AMERICANS WERE EVEN KNOWN TO PAVE THE WAY WITH FIRE.

ERIC: THEY WOULD LIGHT THE LITTLE PIECES OF BRUSH AND THE GRASS ON FIRE AND WHAT THIS DID, OBVIOUSLY, WAS CLEAR THE PATH.

GEOFFREY: THE OPEN ROAD LET THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF MANHATTAN TRADE WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH.

TO TRADE, YEAH, AND THIS TRAIL ACTUALLY STRETCHED ALL THE WAY TO CANADA.

WOW!

CANADA THAT WAY?

GEOFFREY: WHEN THE DUTCH FOUNDED NEW AMSTERDAM HERE IN 1625, THEY BUILT A WALL AT THE END OF THE ROAD TO KEEP OUT THE ENGLISH.

BROADWAY RAN RIGHT UP TO THE WALL?

YES.

NOW THAT'S WALL STREET.

GEOFFREY: HENCE THE NAME.

MICHELLE: EXACTLY.

GEOFFREY: THE OLD NATIVE AMERICAN ROAD BECAME A MAJOR ARTERY FOR THE DUTCH, REMINISCENT OF THE GREAT THOROUGHFARES OF THE NETHERLANDS WHERE THE UPPER CRUST WOULD STROLL.

ONE OF THE NAMES THEY CALLED IT WAS GENTLEMAN STREET?

YEAH, "DE HEER DE STRAAT".

THEY USED IT FOR PROMENADING.

GEOFFREY: LIKE WE ARE?

YES, EXACTLY.

WE'RE PROMENADING.

GEOFFREY: BUT THE ROAD ITSELF WAS LESS THAN GLAMOROUS.

MICHELLE: THE ROAD WAS STILL PRETTY MUCH DIRT.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY WITH HORSES, CARRIAGES, OX CARTS, POSSIBLY DEAD ANIMALS, DEFINITELY MANURE.

AH, NO SIDEWALKS?

NO SIDEWALKS.

GEOFFREY: THE FIRST SIDEWALKS WERE BUILT FOR THE VERY PURPOSE OF LIFTING PEDESTRIANS OUT OF THE FILTH, BUT NEW YORK DIDN'T ADD THEM UNTIL THE 18TH CENTURY.

THE SIDEWALK IS A FAIRLY NEW INVENTION IN HUMAN HISTORY.

GEOFFREY: IN THE MEANTIME, THE DUTCH MADE ROOM FOR HORSE-DRAWN TRAFFIC BY WIDENING THE ROAD, WHICH EARNED IT ANOTHER NAME.

THEY CALLED IT BREED A WEG?

BREED A WEG.

WHICH IS DUTCH?

YEAH AND IT MEANS BROADWAY IN TWO WORDS.

BROAD WAY.

GEOFFREY: THE NAME STUCK AFTER THE BRITISH TOOK CONTROL OF NEW YORK.

BROAD-WAY BECAME A CENTER OF COLONIAL LIFE, A PLACE TO TALK POLITICS, AND PLAY BALL.

BOWLING?

BOWLING.

GEOFFREY: AT NEW YORK'S FIRST PARK, BOWLING GREEN.

THIS PARK WAS CONVENIENTLY ACROSS FROM A TAVERN SO THEY WOULD COME OUT HERE, SET UP PINS, AND BOWL AWAY.

GEOFFREY: AND IN 1776, WITH REVOLUTION IN THE AIR, THIS IS WHERE THE PEOPLE MADE THEIR VOICES HEARD.

SO THERE WAS A STATUE OF KING GEORGE III HERE SURROUNDED BY A FENCE.

THE FENCE IS STILL HERE.

WHAT HAPPENED TO GEORGE?

IN JULY OF 1776, GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS HEADQUARTERED HERE AT NUMBER ONE BROADWAY AND ASKED FOR THE MILITARY BRIGADES TO GATHER THAT EVENING TO READ THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

THE CROWDS GOT RILED UP AND THEY PULLED DOWN THE STATUE AND MELTED HIM.

GEOFFREY: EVEN AS PRIVATE CARRIAGES BECAME A COMMON SIGHT, BROADWAY REMAINED THE MODEL PEDESTRIAN THOROUGHFARE.

IT BECAME THE FIRST STREET IN AMERICA TO FEATURE MASS TRANSIT IN 1827.

JAN: THE OMNIBUS WAS A CARRIAGE FOR ALL AND IT CARRIED UP TO FORTY TWO PEOPLE IN A DOUBLE DECKER DRAWN BY THREE HORSES.

GEOFFREY: AND BROADWAY BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST STREETS IN THE WORLD TO INSTALL ELECTRIC LIGHTING IN 1880, EARNING IT THE NICKNAME "THE GREAT WHITE WAY".

PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE HOW MUCH ELECTRIC LIGHTING CHANGED SOCIETY AND CULTURE BECAUSE IT ALLOWED PEOPLE TO BE OUTSIDE IN THE EVENINGS.

MOST CITIES WERE UNSAFE AFTER DARK.

GEOFFREY: BROADWAY WAS CONSIDERED SO SAFE, WOMEN COULD SHOP UNESCORTED AT SOME OF THE WORLD'S FIRST DEPARTMENT STORES, IN A SWANKY RETAIL DISTRICT KNOWN AS THE LADIES MILE.

IT WAS ONE OF THE ONLY PLACES IN THE CITY WHERE THEY COULD COME UNACCOMPANIED WITHOUT ANY MALE CHAPERONES TO SHOP.

UNACCOMPANIED, LIKE WE DON'T EVEN THINK OF THAT NOW-A-DAYS?

NO, BUT WOMEN COULDN'T GO ALONE AFTER CERTAIN HOURS INTO CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS.

GEOFFREY: AND ALL OF THE FOOT TRAFFIC ON BROADWAY ENTICED THEATER OWNERS, WHO BUILT THEIR PALACES OF ENTERTAINMENT AROUND TIMES SQUARE.

IT'S ACTUALLY NAMED FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES.

SO, IN THE EARLY 1900S, THE NEW YORK TIMES MOVED ITS HEADQUARTERS TO ONE TIMES SQUARE.

IT IS SUCH A SCENE.

I MEAN, LOOK AT THE SEA OF HUMANITY.

MICHELLE: FOR SURE.

GEOFFREY: FOUR CENTURIES AFTER NATIVE AMERICANS FIRST WALKED THIS STREET, BROADWAY REMAINS TRUE TO ITS PEDESTRIAN ROOTS.

A PLACE TO STROLL, SHOP, AND SHARE IDEAS.

WHICH, IRONICALLY, IS NOT NEW.

THAT'S WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THE ERA BEFORE AUTOMOBILES.

THE NOTION THAT STREETS BELONGED TO PEOPLE.

IT'S ONLY THE CAR THAT CHANGED UP THAT MIX.

GEOFFREY: AND NOW BROADWAY IS BECOMING A MODEL STREET FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.

WE'LL BE BACK AT THE END OF THE SHOW, TO SEE HOW.

SEE YOU AT THE END OF THE SHOW.

YEAH, SEE YOU THEN.

OKAY.

GEOFFREY: THIS HIGHWAY HELPED WIN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, BUT IT DIDN'T CARRY MUSKETS OR MUNITIONS.

IT DELIVERED MAIL.

ERIC: THE EARLY PHASES OF REBELLION WERE EMERGING IN THE COLONIES AND THEY KNEW THEY NEEDED COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS.

SO, HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

YOU NEED TO SEND LETTERS FROM PLACE TO PLACE.

GEOFFREY: BEFORE THE BOSTON POST ROAD, THE BEST WAY TO GET ACROSS THE FAR-FLUNG AMERICAN COLONIES WAS BY BOAT.

TRAVELING LONG DISTANCES ON HORSEBACK WAS A PAINFUL PROCESS.

WE HAVE THIRTEEN SEPARATE COLONIES THAT ARE VERY FAR APART, BARELY CONNECTED BY RUDIMENTARY ROAD NETWORK.

IT WOULD TAKE EIGHT WEEKS FOR A LETTER TO GO FROM BOSTON DOWN TO WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA.

GEOFFREY: THOSE WEAK LINES OF COMMUNICATION PRESENTED A PROBLEM FOR FRANCIS LOVELACE, THE GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK.

THE DUTCH WERE THREATENING TO RECAPTURE HIS COLONY IN 1672.

THE BASIC IDEA WAS, IF WE COULD LEARN IN TIME WHAT THE DUTCH MOVEMENTS WERE DOING, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PREPARE OUR DEFENSE MOST STRATEGICALLY.

SO FRANCIS LOVELACE'S IDEA WAS TO CREATE THIS POSTAL SYSTEM.

GEOFFREY: THIS REMARKABLE NEW SYSTEM WOULD BE ABLE TO QUICKLY RELAY MESSAGES THROUGH THE VAST WILDERNESS BETWEEN BOSTON AND NEW YORK, BUT FIRST, THIS POSTAL SERVICE NEEDED A POST ROAD.

ERIC: AT THAT TIME, IF YOU THINK ABOUT, TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION WERE THE SAME THING, YOU COULD NOT COMMUNICATE WITHOUT GOING SOMEWHERE.

GEOFFREY: RATHER THAN BUILD A ROAD FROM SCRATCH, LOVELACE REPURPOSED FORMER NATIVE AMERICAN ROADS THAT COLONISTS WOULD CALL HIGH WAYS.

THE TERM HIGHWAY GOES BACK TO ROMAN ROADS.

THE ROAD TENDED TO BE ELEVATED WITHIN THE LANDSCAPE, HENCE THE TERM THE HIGH WAY.

GEOFFREY: BUT THE BOSTON POST ROAD WASN'T EXACTLY UP TO ROMAN STANDARDS.

ERIC: THE ROAD ITSELF WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY UNSOPHISTICATED.

YOU HAD A VERY NARROW TRAIL IN SOME PARTS THAT IF YOU DIVERGED JUST A BIT, YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO NECESSARILY KNOW YOUR WAY BACK ONTO THE ROUTE.

GEOFFREY: WHEN AMERICA'S FIRST REGULAR POSTAL ROUTE LAUNCHED ON JANUARY 22, 1673, THE NEW YORK TO BOSTON RIDE WAS STILL A GRUELING THREE WEEK JOURNEY.

I MEAN, THERE'S A REASON THAT GOVERNOR LOVELACE SAID THAT THE FIRST POST RIDER NEEDS TO BE ACTIVE, STOUT AND INDEFATIGABLE.

THIS IS NOT EASY.

I DON'T KNOW IF I FEEL ACTIVE, STOUT OR INDEFATIGABLE, HOW ABOUT YOU?

I FEEL FATIGUED.

[LAUGHS] GEOFFREY: BUT SOON, REGULARLY-PLACED MILESTONES HELPED GUIDE THE WAY.

AND THE TRIP WAS CUT TO A LIGHTENING-FAST FOUR DAYS, THANKS TO AN EFFICIENCY-OBSESSED DEPUTY POSTMASTER NAMED BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

POST RIDERS DELIVERED THE MAIL TO TAVERNS: ALL-IN-ONE REST STOPS WITH A BAR, LODGING, AND STABLES.

DAN: MAIL WAS JUST DUMPED AT THE TAVERN.

IF YOUR MAIL ARRIVED HOPEFULLY SOMEONE WILL NOT TAKE IT.

GEOFFREY: IN THOSE DAYS, THE POSTAGE WAS PAID BY THE RECIPIENT.

SO IF YOUR LETTER ARRIVES AND THE RECIPIENT SAYS, YOU KNOW WHAT?

I DON'T REALLY WANT THIS LETTER OR I'M NOT GOING TO PAY YOU?

GUESS WHO'S OUT?

IT'S THE POST MASTER AND SO-- NOT A GREAT BUSINESS MODEL.

NOT A GREAT BUSINESS MODEL.

GEOFFREY: A POSTMASTER, NAMED JOHN CAMPBELL, SUPPLEMENTED HIS INCOME BY SELLING A ONE PAGE SUMMARY OF RECENT EVENTS IT'S CONSIDERED AMERICA'S FIRST SUCCESSFUL NEWSPAPER.

GEOFFREY: THESE POST MASTERS ACTUALLY BECAME JOURNALISTS, RIGHT?

ERIC: YEAH, THEY WERE KIND OF A ONE-MAN MEDIA MACHINE.

THEY GOT NEWS FROM LONDON, THEY GOT NEWS FROM THE REST OF THE COLONIES.

THEY'D PUT THIS INFORMATION DOWN IN THE NEWSLETTER.

THEY'D GIVE IT TO THE POST RIDER.

BECAUSE IT WAS THEIR OWN POST RIDER, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY ANY MONEY TO SEND IT.

GEOFFREY: IN TIME, THE IDEAS CARRIED ON THE BOSTON POST ROAD WOULD HELP SOW THE SEEDS OF REVOLUTION.

NEWSPAPERS SPREAD REVOLUTIONARY FERVOR AND PATRIOTIC POST RIDERS LIKE PAUL REVERE CARRIED MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

YOU COULD SEE THE POST ROAD IN MANY SENSES AS THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE REBELLION.

GEOFFREY: SO IT WAS KIND OF AN INFORMATION SUPER HIGHWAY, RIGHT?

ERIC: RIGHT.

GEOFFREY: CENTURIES LATER, WE HAVE OTHER WAYS TO RELAY INFORMATION, BUT THE ROUTE OF THE POST ROAD IS A KEY CORRIDOR FOR TRANSPORTATION.

SOME STRETCHES MIGHT STILL LOOK FAMILIAR TO AN 18TH CENTURY TRAVELER.

OTHERS BEAR LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO ONE OF AMERICA'S ORIGINAL HIGHWAYS.

ERIC: WHEN THE VERY LAST PIECE OF I-95 WAS LAID DOWN IN EASTERN CONNECTICUT, THE FIRST CONVEYANCE THAT ACTUALLY WENT ALONG, IT WAS NOT A CAR, IT WAS A HORSE AND BUGGY.

AND WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO WAS KIND OF CHRISTEN THIS NEW ROUTE WITH A SYMBOL OF THE OLD ROUTE.

GEOFFREY: IT WAS AN INGENIOUS BUSINESS PLAN.

SELL SUBURBAN REAL ESTATE FAR OUTSIDE THE CITY AND THEN SELL RESIDENTS TICKETS TO GET THERE.

RICHARD: AND THE INITIAL FARE, IN 1835, IT'S TWENTY FIVE CENTS AND TO MEET YOU HERE THIS MORNING, I PAID $1.25.

THAT'S NOT BAD.

THAT'S NOT MUCH INFLATION, REALLY.

GEOFFREY: NEW ORLEANS WAS CHOKING ON ITS OWN SUCCESS IN THE YEARS AFTER THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.

AS THE BUSTLING PORT CITY SAW A POPULATION EXPLOSION, DISEASE SWEPT THROUGH ITS OVERCROWDED URBAN CORE.

WHAT MADE IT, NOT SUCH A PLEASANT PLACE TO LIVE?

THE HIGHEST DEATH RATE IN THE NATION, MADE IT UNPLEASANT.

YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMICS, CHOLERA EPIDEMICS, DENGUE, MALARIA.

THERE WAS ONE YEAR IN 1853, WHERE ONE OUT OF TEN NEW ORLEANIANS DIDN'T MAKE IT THROUGH THE SUMMER.

GEOFFREY: SHREWD REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS SAW A CHANCE TO CASH IN ON THE CITY'S MISERY.

THEY BOUGHT A SUGAR CANE PLANTATION FAR OUTSIDE OF TOWN AND HIRED A SURVEYOR NAMED CHARLES ZIMPEL TO LAY OUT A FAUBOURG.

THEY DIDN'T USE THE TERM WE USE, SUBURB.

THE FRENCH USED THE TERM, FAUBOURG.

BOURG MEANS CITY, FAU MEANS FALSE.

GEOFFREY: THE FAUBOURG, CALLED CARROLLTON, WOULD BE A WHOPPING FIVE MILES FROM TOWN.

AND WHILE THAT WAS FAR ENOUGH TO OFFER FRESH AIR, IT WAS TOO FAR FOR A COMFORTABLE COMMUTE BY CARRIAGE.

IT WAS VERY DANGEROUS TRAVELING IN A CARRIAGE AND IT WAS INCREDIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE AS WELL.

GEOFFREY: SO THE DEVELOPERS HATCHED A PLAN.

CHARLES ZIMPEL WOULD ALSO BUILD A RAILROAD.

RICHARD: IT WAS CALLED THE NEW ORLEANS AND CARLTON RAILROAD.

SO THE RAILROAD WAS LAID OUT IN PART TO GIVE VALUE TO CARLTON AND OTHER UPTOWN SUBURBS, AND AS THOSE SUBURBS DEVELOPED, IT BROUGHT MORE RIDERS TO THE RAILROAD.

GEOFFREY: THE NEW SERVICE RAN UP ST. CHARLES AVENUE, A STREET THAT FOLLOWS THE DISTINCTIVE CURVE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

WHICH LEADS TO NEW ORLEANS NICKNAME.

THE CRESCENT CITY.

GEOFFREY: SPEEDY STATE OF THE ART STEAM ENGINES MADE THE MILES BETWEEN CITY AND SUBURB FLY BY.

AND SO, IN 1835, 50 YEARS BEFORE THE INVENTION OF THE AUTOMOBILE, AMERICANS WERE COMMUTING.

GEOFFREY: SO TODAY WHEN YOU'RE RIDING ON A BUS OR A TRAIN EVERYBODY'S LOOKING AT THEIR IPHONE AND GOT THEIR HEADPHONES IN.

WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE IN THE HEYDAY OF THIS STREETCAR?

WELL, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD HAVE TALKED WITH EACH OTHER.

BOTH WEALTHY AND MIDDLE CLASS AND THE WORKING CLASS, ALL WOULD HAVE USED THESE SYSTEMS.

SO IN WAYS IT WAS A MICROCOSM OF LOCAL SOCIETY.

GEOFFREY: BUT IT STILL REFLECTED THE PREJUDICE OF THE TIME.

BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, ENSLAVED AND FREE BLACKS RODE ON DESIGNATED CARS, MARKED WITH A BLACK STAR.

AND IN THE JIM CROW ERA, WHITE AND BLACK PASSENGERS WERE SEPARATED BY A MOVEABLE SCREEN.

RICHARD: IF TWO PEOPLE WERE BOARDING, CHATTING AWAY AT THE STOP, ONE WOULD BE WHITE, ONE MIGHT BE AFRICAN-AMERICAN, AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN WOULD SIT ON ONE SIDE, THE WHITE WOMAN WOULD SIT ON-- AND THEY WOULD CONTINUE THEIR CONVERSATION.

GEOFFREY: JUST AS CARROLLTON'S FOUNDERS HAD HOPED, THEIR RAIL SERVICE DROVE THE SUBURB'S TRANSFORMATION FROM PLANTATION TO BEDROOM COMMUNITY.

IT WAS SO SUCCESSFUL THAT OTHER PLANTATION OWNERS ALONG THE CARROLLTON LINE DISCOVERED A NEW WAY TO MAKE MONEY.

THEY REALIZED THAT THEY COULD MAKE MORE MONEY BY SELLING OFF URBAN REAL ESTATE THAN THEY CAN WITH ANOTHER SEASON IN ENSLAVED AGRICULTURE.

GEOFFREY: AS STEAM ENGINES GAVE WAY TO ELECTRIC STREETCARS, PLACES LIKE CARROLLTON WOULD BE GIVEN A NAME, STREETCAR SUBURBS.

AND SOON MOST AMERICAN CITIES WOULD BE BUILDING THEM.

GABRIELLE: AS CITY CENTERS BECOME INCREASINGLY DENSE, PEOPLE OF MEANS CHOOSE TO MOVE OUT.

PICK ANY CITY AND YOU WILL INEVITABLY FIND THESE STREETCAR SUBURBS.

GEOFFREY: IT PAVED THE WAY FOR COUNTLESS COVERED WAGONS CARRYING PIONEERS TO THE WEST, BUT GETTING IT BUILT WAS A BUMPY ROAD.

THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WOULD USE PUBLIC DOLLARS FOR INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT.

THIS WAS VERY CONTROVERSIAL AT THE TIME.

GEOFFREY: THE CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL ROAD CAME FROM A SWISS IMMIGRANT NAMED ALBERT GALLATIN.

ALBERT GALLATIN WAS THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY UNDER THOMAS JEFFERSON.

HE'S ACTUALLY THE LONGEST SERVING SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY IN US HISTORY.

GEOFFREY: GALLATIN HELPED JEFFERSON ORCHESTRATE THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE, WHICH EXPANDED THE NATION'S TERRITORIES TO THE WEST.

BUT THESE FERTILE NEW LANDS WERE CUT OFF FROM THE EAST BY THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS.

JOE: THEY NEEDED TO CREATE A WAY FOR THE PIONEERS, THE SETTLERS TO START TO CONQUER THIS NEW TERRITORY.

GEOFFREY: BUT EVEN MORE AUDACIOUS THAN GALLATIN'S IDEA FOR A 131 MILE MOUNTAIN ROAD WAS HIS PLAN TO PAY FOR IT.

THE NATIONAL ROAD WOULD BE FUNDED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

GEOFFREY: WHY WAS IT CONTROVERSIAL?

WELL, IT REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL TODAY, RIGHT?

[LAUGHS] WE'RE USING PUBLIC DOLLARS TO SPEND IN STATES THAT MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE MY STATE.

GEOFFREY: IT DIDN'T HELP GALLATIN'S CASE THAT HE STOOD TO GAIN FROM THE PROJECT.

JOE: THE ROAD GOES RIGHT BY HIS HOME-- AND THROUGH HIS CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

IT-- ABSOLUTELY.

WAS THERE SOMETHING A LITTLE FISHY ABOUT GALLATIN SAYING, "YEAH, LET'S BRING IT OVER HERE."

GEOFFREY: GALLITIN CONVINCED THOMAS JEFFERSON THAT THE GOVERNMENT COULD PAY FOR THE PROJECT BY SELLING OFF LAND IN THE NEW STATE OF OHIO.

THOUGH NO FAN OF FEDERAL SPENDING, JEFFERSON REALIZED THE ROAD MIGHT UNIFY THE EXPANDING NATION.

SO ON MARCH 29, 1806, THE PRESIDENT SIGNED AN ACT ALLOWING CONSTRUCTION OF A ROAD FROM CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND TO THE OHIO RIVER.

AND SO WHEN THEY WERE ABLE TO GET TO THE OHIO RIVER YOU HAD OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADDITIONAL COMMERCE TO FLOAT-- GEOFFREY: BY WATER BEYOND THERE, YEAH.

JOE: ABSOLUTELY.

GEOFFREY: IT WAS THE LARGEST INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT IN THE YOUNG COUNTRY'S HISTORY.

TEAMS OF WORKERS CUT A 66-FOOT-WIDE PATH THROUGH MOUNTAIN PASSES, CLEARING FORESTS AS THEY WENT.

SO YOU HAVE LIKE HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS OF WORKERS LIKE CHOPPING DOWN TREES-- AND LIKE OXEN-- ABSOLUTELY.

PULLING OUT STONES-- YEAH, PULLING 'EM OUT, YUP.

GEOFFREY: THE ROAD WAS THEN PAVED WITH LAYERED GRAVEL USING A METHOD BORROWED FROM THE FRENCH ENGINEER PIERRE TRESAGUET.

SO MY TEETH ARE RATTLING IN MY HEAD.

[LAUGHS] JOE: WE'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT A ROAD THAT IS VERY RUSTIC.

GEOFFREY: ONCE THE ROUTE TO THE RIVER WAS COMPLETE THE ROAD WAS EXTENDED TOWARD THE NEW STATE CAPITALS OF OHIO, INDIANA, AND ILLINOIS.

BUT BY THEN, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WANTED OUT OF THE ROAD-BUILDING BUSINESS.

JOE: THE GOVERNMENT SAYS, "OKAY, WE'RE STARTING TO LOSE MONEY ON IT.

WE'RE GOING TO TURN THIS OVER TO THE STATES."

GEOFFREY: THE STATES, AND EVEN PRIVATE COMPANIES, BEGAN COLLECTING TOLLS AT TURN PIKES.

SO THE PIKE ITSELF IS ACTUALLY A GATE, RIGHT?

EXACTLY, SO AT THE TOLL HOUSE ITSELF, AN ACTUAL GATE WOULD SWING ACROSS, WHEN THEY PAID THEIR TOLL, THE PIKE WOULD TURN.

-THE PIKE WOULD TURN.

-THEY WOULD MOVE ON.

SO, HENCE THE NAME, TURNPIKES.

GEOFFREY: IN PENNSYLVANIA, ONE PERSON ON HORSEBACK PAID FOUR CENTS, WHILE A HERD OF 20 SHEEP OR HOGS CO ST SIX CENTS.

THE TOLL FOR A WAGON DEPENDED ON THE WIDTH OF ITS WHEELS.

THE WIDER YOUR WHEELS WERE THE LOWER YOUR RATE OF TOLL WAS BECAUSE WIDE WHEELS COMPACTED THE SURFACE OF THE ROAD AND KEPT IT IN GOOD CONDITION.

GEOFFREY: AS SETTLERS SURGED WEST ON THE ROAD AND STARTED FARMING FLOUR, HEMP, AND TOBACCO FLOWED EAST AND BUSINESSES POPPED UP ALONG THE WAY TO SERVICE THIS NEW ECONOMY.

DAN: YOU'RE SMART TO BE ON THE ROAD BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE COMMERCE IS, THAT'S WHERE THE TRAVEL IS.

TAVERNS, BLACKSMITHS, IF YOU'RE ON THE NATIONAL ROAD, YOU'RE GOING TO BE PROSPEROUS, IT'S GUARANTEED.

GEOFFREY: AS SMALL TOWNS EMERGED, THE FOUNDERS OFTEN GAVE THEIR STRETCH OF THE NATIONAL ROAD A NEW NAME.

THEY RENAME IT MAIN STREET BECAUSE THIS IS THE AREA WHERE PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO SET UP SHOP.

THIS IS THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING.

GEOFFREY: SO THE NATIONAL ROAD IS AMERICA'S MAIN STREET.

YUP, THIS IS, AS WE LIKE TO SAY, THE ROAD THAT BUILT THE NATION.

GEOFFREY: THE NATIONAL ROAD CEMENTED AMERICA'S VERY IDEA OF MAIN STREET, AS IT SPURRED THE NATION'S WESTWARD MIGRATION.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT EXPANDED THE NEW GOVERNMENT'S POWER OF THE PURSE.

DAN: THE NATIONAL ROAD ESTABLISHED OUR FEDERAL FUNDING MECHANISM TO INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE.

WITHOUT THAT WE'D BE CRIPPLED AS A NATION.

SO THIS LEGACY TODAY, HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION, ANY TRANSITION OF MONEY FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. IS ALL BECAUSE OF THE NATIONAL ROAD.

GEOFFREY: THIS STREET IS A CROSS BETWEEN A STREET AND PARK.

IT'S AMERICA'S FIRST PARK-WAY.

GEOFFREY: THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT AMERICANS NEEDED IN THE 1860S.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION WAS CHOKING SKIES AND SNARLING STREETS, BUT THE DESIGNER OF CENTRAL PARK HAD A REVOLUTIONARY SOLUTION, A NEW KIND OF ROAD.

OLMSTED WAS A VISIONARY IN UNDERSTANDING THE NEED TO GET AWAY IN DENSE URBAN PLACES AND HE UNDERSTOOD THAT ROADS LIKE EASTERN PARKWAY COULD SERVE A FUNCTION OF GETTING AWAY FROM THE CITY.

GEOFFREY: FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED HAD BEEN HAILED AS THE SAVIOR OF INDUSTRIAL-AGE AMERICA, WHEN CENTRAL PARK OPENED A FEW YEARS EARLIER.

FROM BOSTON TO BUFFALO TO CHICAGO, CITIES BEGAN BUILDING THEIR OWN NATURAL-LOOKING PARKS.

BUT IN NEW YORK'S RIVAL CITY ACROSS THE RIVER, BROOKLYNITES GAZED ENVIOUSLY AT CENTRAL PARK AND WORRIED ABOUT BECOMING A SECOND RATE-SUBURB.

MITCHELL: THEY WANTED BROOKLYN TO HAVE ITS GRAND PARK.

THEY UNDERSTOOD TO HAVE A LIVABLE CITY YOU NEED TO HAVE GREEN SPACE.

GEOFFREY: AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO BEAT YOUR RIVAL THAN TO STEAL ITS TALENT?

BROOKLYN HIRED OLMSTED AND HIS PARTNER CALVERT VAUX TO BUILD A PARK THAT WAS EVERY BIT AS STUNNING.

A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY THAT OLMSTED AND VAUX PRACTICED THEIR CRAFT ON CENTRAL PARK BEFORE THEY PERFECTED THEIR CRAFT ON PROSPECT PARK.

GEOFFREY: BUT PROSPECT PARK WAS JUST THE BEGINNING.

EXTENDING FROM THE PARK, OLMSTED AND VAUX DESIGNED EASTERN PARK-WAY.

IT WAS TO BE THE FIRST OF SEVERAL WIDE, LEAFY STREETS CONNECTING AN ENTIRE SYSTEM OF PARKS.

DAN: SO OLMSTED AND VAUX WERE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT THE IDEA OF BEING ABLE TO TRAVEL FROM A PARK TO ANOTHER ONE, THROUGH THE CITY, IN A GREEN CORRIDOR.

GEOFFREY: BUT OLMSTED'S PARKWAY DIDN'T JUST BRING PEOPLE FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD TO THE PARK, IT BROUGHT THE PARK INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

I MEAN I FEEL LIKE I'M IN A PARK HERE.

CORRECT.

HE REALLY JUST UNDERSTOOD THAT THE PARK EXPERIENCE SHOULD NOT JUST BE CONTAINED WITHIN THE PARK ITSELF.

HE UNDERSTOOD IN ALL THIS DENSITY AS THE CITY WAS EMERGING THAT PEOPLE WANTED THOSE PLACES WHERE THEY CAN JUST RELAX.

GEOFFREY: FOR THOSE WHO COULD AFFORD A CARRIAGE THERE WAS A CENTRAL ROADWAY FOR PLEASURE RIDES.

AND CARRIAGE RIDES WERE FINALLY PLEASANT, THANKS TO BETTER BRAKES AND SUSPENSION AND A NEW STEAM-POWERED DEVICE THAT COMPACTED GRAVEL ROADS.

DAN: THE FIRST STEAMROLLER, AND WE START BUILDING ROADS FOR PLEASURE DRIVING.

AND PEOPLE START GOING OUT AND TOURING AND LOOKING AT THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE.

GEOFFREY: IF YOU COULDN'T AFFORD A CARRIAGE YOU MIGHT RIDE SOME OF THE NATION'S FIRST BIKE LANES.

AND PEDESTRIANS HAD IT MADE IN THE SHADE BECAUSE TOWERING OVER EASTERN PARKWAY WAS A RARE SIGHT ON CITY STREETS.

MITCHELL: THERE WERE OVER 1,100 TREES PLANTED TO GIVE IT THAT MAGNIFICENCE.

THIS WAS BRAND-NEW TO UNITED STATES.

GEOFFREY: TO MAINTAIN AN AGREEABLE ATMOSPHERE, DELIVERY WAGONS HAD TO USE OUTER SERVICE ROADS AND NOXIOUS OR OFFENSIVE BUSINESSES WERE BANNED ALTOGETHER.

GABRIELLE: THE REASON THAT WE WANT TO ELIMINATE NOXIOUS ODORS IS BECAUSE WE'RE ALSO THINKING ABOUT PROPERTY VALUES.

AS MUCH AS THEY WERE ABOUT CREATING IDEAL PLACES IN URBAN AREAS, THEY WERE ALSO ABOUT PROMOTING A CERTAIN KIND OF GROWTH AND REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT.

GEOFFREY: WHILE NEW YORK'S CITYWIDE SYSTEM OF PARKWAYS WOULD NEVER BE FULLY REALIZED, EASTERN PARKWAY INSPIRED THE CONSTRUCTION OF SCENIC DRIVES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, WELL INTO THE AGE OF THE AUTOMOBILE.

EVEN TODAY THIS MIXED-USE STREET FOR THE MASSES CONTINUES TO MOVE US.

MITCHELL: PEOPLE STILL ENJOY WALKING AND SOME PEOPLE STILL ENJOY DRIVING AND EVEN BIKING.

AND IF YOU HAD A CHOICE OF TAKING THE BUSY STREET OR TRAVELING ON SOMETHING AS BEAUTIFUL AS THIS PARKWAY, PEOPLE WOULD CHOOSE THIS PARKWAY.

GEOFFREY: A REVOLUTION WAS COMING TO THIS MOTOR CITY STREET, BUT NOT FROM THE CAR MAKERS.

THEY JUST MADE THE CARS AND THEN THEY SAID, THE ROADS AREN'T OUR PROBLEM.

GEOFFREY: INSTEAD, TAXPAYERS WOULD FUND THE TRANSFORMATION OF WOODWARD AVENUE INTO A SUPERHIGHWAY.

ROBERT: IT WASN'T ENOUGH JUST TO BUILD CARS, YOU ALSO HAD TO SHOW HOW TO BUILD ROADS.

THAT WAS WHAT WOODWARD WAS ABOUT.

GEOFFREY: TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE MODERN HIGHWAY WAS BORN HERE ON WOODWARD YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TWO CENTURIES WHEN AUGUSTUS WOODWARD FIRST SET FOOT HERE ON THE FRONTIER.

HE WAS THE FIRST JUDGE OF THE MICHIGAN TERRITORY, APPOINTED BY THOMAS JEFFERSON AND I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT JEFFERSON APPOINTED HIM TO GET RID OF HIM.

[LAUGHS] HE CAME TO DETROIT IN 1805 AND IMMEDIATELY PROCLAIMED THAT THIS WOULD BE THE GREAT CITY OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INTERIOR.

ALL THAT IT NEEDED WAS A PLAN AND HE DESIGNED EXACTLY SUCH A PLAN BASED ON INTERLOCKING HEXAGONS.

GEOFFREY: AND NATURALLY, THE CITY'S MAIN THOROUGHFARE WAS NAMED FOR WOODWARD HIMSELF.

ROBERT: IT WAS THE PLACE TO LIVE.

THERE WAS A LOT OF MONEY IN DETROIT SO THAT ALL WENT INTO MAGNIFICENT MANSIONS.

GEOFFREY: FLASH FORWARD TO 1907.

MICHIGAN WAS BECOMING A HUB FOR MAKERS OF THE HORSELESS CARRIAGE AND HENRY FORD WAS LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO BUILD HIS NEW MODEL T. FORD SAW THAT AUGUSTUS WOODWARD'S AVENUE OFFERED GREAT TRANSIT ACCESS.

IN FACT, HIS WORKERS COULD TAKE THE STREETCAR.

SO HE BUILT A MASSIVE FACTORY ON WOODWARD AVENUE.

THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY FOLLOWED.

REED: ALL ALONG WOODWARD, AT THAT TIME, ARE ALL THE COMPANIES THAT ARE GOING TO MAKE THE AUTOMOBILE HAPPEN.

THERE'S MORE THAN A HUNDRED OF THEM AT ONE POINT.

GEOFFREY: AS FOR THE AVENUE ITSELF, WOODWARD WAS STILL DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR HORSE-DRAWN VEHICLES JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER STREET IN AMERICA.

BUT NOW, SUDDENLY, IT WAS OVERRUN WITH CARS.

ROBERT: WOODWARD AVENUE IS ESSENTIALLY A GRAVEL, DIRT ROAD.

UH-HUH.

IT'S COMPLETELY INCAPABLE OF CARRYING THE TRAFFIC THAT FORD AND THE OTHER AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS ARE PROVIDING FOR IT.

GEOFFREY: SO THE PEOPLE OF DETROIT WOULD PAY FOR A SERIES OF RADICAL REDESIGNS.

FIRST, A MILE-LONG STRETCH OF WOODWARD WAS PAVED WITH CONCRETE.

SO ARE WE ON THE FIRST PAVED STRETCH OF ROAD?

ROBERT: YES, THE MODERN AMERICAN HIGHWAY REALLY BEGINS RIGHT HERE.

HOW ABOUT IT?

[LAUGHING] GEOFFREY: NEXT, THE WORLD'S FIRST THREE-COLOR TRAFFIC LIGHT CAME TO WOODWARD, THOUGH IT WASN'T EXACTLY THE STOPLIGHT WE ALL KNOW TODAY.

THAT 1920 LIGHT ON WOODWARD WAS MANUALLY OPERATED BY A TRAFFIC COP WHO HAD TO STAND THERE AND OPERATE IT.

GEOFFREY: THE ONLY THING THAT THREATENED TO STOP THE CAR WAS BAD PUBLICITY.

UNTIL NOW IT HAD ALWAYS BEEN PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO WALK IN THE STREET, BUT PEDESTRIAN DEATHS WERE SUDDENLY SOARING.

IF SOMEBODY GOT HIT, IT WAS AUTOMATICALLY THE DRIVER'S FAULT BECAUSE AFTER ALL, THE PEDESTRIAN WAS DOING WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO.

SO THIS MEANT IF YOU WANTED A FUTURE SELLING CARS TO CITY PEOPLE YOU HAD TO SORT OF REDEFINE STREETS AS PLACES FOR CARS.

GEOFFREY: SO THE AUTO INDUSTRY FUNDED CAMPAIGNS TO SHAME THOSE WHO WALKED IN THE STREETS AS HAYSEEDS OR JAYS.

WE'LL START TO CALL PEOPLE WHO WALK IN THE STREET WHERE THEY WANT JAYWALKERS.

IT WOULD BE LIKE THE WORD HICK TODAY.

GEOFFREY: AS CARS CROWDED OUT OTHER FORMS OF TRAFFIC, A DRAMATIC NEW VISION EMERGED FOR WOODWARD.

A SUPERHIGHWAY WOULD CONNECT DETROIT TO NEW SUBURBS WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART SUBWAY AND SURFACE RAIL LINES AND EIGHT LANES FOR AUTOMOBILES.

THE THOUGHT YOU WOULD EVER NEED EIGHT LANES WAS SO ABSURD COMPARED TO MOST PLACES, BUT THEY UNDERSTOOD EARLY IN DETROIT THAT THE CAR WAS GOING TO BE KING.

THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE IT KING.

GEOFFREY: A PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN RALLIED SUPPORT FOR THE WIDER STREET WITHOUT MENTIONING MASS TRANSIT.

IT WAS LED BY AN AUTO EXECUTIVE AND SUBURBAN REAL ESTATE INTERESTS.

GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN BUILDING A SUBWAY SYSTEM AND SIMPLY MAKING SPACE FOR MORE CARS, THERE WAS LITTLE DOUBT WHICH WAY THE MOTOR CITY WOULD GO.

WELL, OF COURSE THE AUTOMOBILE.

[LAUGHING] GEOFFREY: TO WIDEN WOODWARD BUILDINGS WERE EITHER DEMOLISHED, MOVED OUT OF THE WAY, OR CUT IN HALF.

ROBERT: IT WAS REALLY URBAN SURGERY.

EVERYTHING HAD TO GO.

NOTHING WAS SACRED.

THE HIGHWAY WAS EVERYTHING.

GEOFFREY: AS MORE COMMUTERS TOOK TO THEIR CARS, WOODWARD'S CENTURY-OLD STREETCAR SE RVICE WAS DISMANTLED.

CITY LEADERS THOUGHT THE WIDER STREET WOULD LET SUBURBANITES DRIVE DOWNTOWN TO WORK AND SHOP.

INSTEAD, NEW OUTLYING BUSINESS DISTRICTS BOOMED AND WOODWARD'S INNER-CITY STRETCHES CRUMBLED.

ROBERT: CITY LEADERS THOUGHT THE MORE ROADS THE BETTER BECAUSE THEY'LL JUST BRING MORE PEOPLE INTO DOWNTOWN.

THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT THE ROADS WENT IN TWO DIRECTIONS.

YEAH.

GEOFFREY: BUT TODAY, AS DETROIT'S INFAMOUS STRUGGLES ARE GIVING WAY TO SIGNS OF A RENAISSANCE, CITY PLANNERS HAVE TAKEN A DISCARDED IDEA FROM WOODWARD'S PAST AS INSPIRATION FOR ITS FUTURE.

GEOFFREY: SO HERE'S SOMETHING NEW, RIGHT, ON WOODWARD, A STREET CAR.

ROBERT: YES, SOMETHING NEW AND SOMETHING OLD.

WOODWARD IS BECOMING WHAT THEY HOPED IT WOULD BE, A SUPER HIGHWAY THAT COMBINES CARS AND TRANSIT.

IF YOU'RE GOING TO REALLY HAVE A CITY YOU HAVE TO HAVE THEM BOTH.

GEOFFREY: IT WAS THE GREATEST STUNT YET OF A MASTER SHOWMAN.

YEAH, HE WAS REALLY THE PT BARNUM OF HIS ERA.

GEOFFREY: A COAST-TO-COAST HIGHWAY, AN AUDACIOUS IDEA THAT COULD ONLY COME FROM THE LIKES OF CARL FISHER.

CARL FISHER WAS BOTH THE CRAZY DREAMER, BUT SOMEBODY WHO'S ALSO GOT A STUNTMAN'S STREAK.

GEOFFREY: FISHER WAS AN INDIANAPOLIS CAR SALESMAN WHO KNEW HOW TO GIN UP FREE PUBLICITY.

LIKE THE TIME HE SUSPENDED ONE OF HIS CARS FROM A HOT AIR BALLOON.

KAY: AND THEN HE RODE IN THE CAR ACROSS INDIANAPOLIS.

GEOFFREY: FLOATED ACROSS INDIANAPOLIS.

FLOATED ACROSS INDIANAPOLIS AND SAID, "OH, LOOK HOW DURABLE THIS CAR IS."

GEOFFREY: OH MY GOSH.

GEOFFREY: THEN FISHER PROVED THE DURABILITY OF CARS BY FOUNDING A 500 MILE RACE.

HE DROVE THE FIRST PACE CAR IN THE INDIANAPOLIS 500.

GEOFFREY: AT A DINNER PARTY IN 1912, CARL FISHER UNVEILED HIS BIGGEST PR OMOTIONAL SCHEME YET, HE WOULD BUILD A GRAVEL HIGHWAY FROM NEW YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO.

IN REALITY, IT'S REALLY A ROAD FROM WEEHAWKEN, NEW JERSEY TO OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, BUT NEW YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO SOUNDS A LOT BETTER.

GEOFFREY: HE NAMED IT THE COAST-TO-COAST ROCK HIGHWAY.

BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HADN'T PAID FOR HIGHWAYS SINCE THE NATIONAL ROAD, FISHER FUNDED THE PROJECT BY HITTING UP HIS FRIENDS AT THE CAR COMPANIES.

THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY KNEW THAT PEOPLE WERE HAVING LOTS OF TROUBLE WITH MUD.

SO IF THE ROADS COULD BE IMPROVED, MORE PEOPLE WOULD DRIVE CARS.

GEOFFREY: FISHER ALSO SOLICITED CONTRIBUTIONS FROM REGULAR AMERICANS WHO COULD BECOME MEMBERS FOR FIVE DOLLARS.

PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON WAS MEMBER NUMBER ONE.

ENTHUSIASM WAS ESPECIALLY STRONG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COUNTRY.

THERE WERE A LOT OF FARMERS WHO UNDERSTOOD IF THE ROAD COULD BE IMPROVED, IT WOULD BE EASIER FOR THEM TO GET THEIR GRAIN TO MARKET.

GEOFFREY: BUT WITHIN A YEAR, CARL FISHER'S CAMPAIGN HAD RUN OUT OF GAS.

IT WOULD TAKE A COUPLE STROKES OF MARKETING GENIUS TO GET THE PROJECT BACK IN GEAR.

FIRST, THE HIGHWAY WAS RENAMED FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

LINCOLN, WHO REUNITED THE COUNTRY.

THEY WOULD BE SYMBOLICALLY UNITING THE COUNTRY WITH THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.

GEOFFREY: THEN, THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION SHOWED JUST HOW SPECTACULAR THEIR ROAD COULD BE WITH SEEDLING MILES, CONCRETE-PAVED SECTIONS IN RURAL COUNTIES THAT HAD ONLY KNOWN DIRT ROADS.

MALTA, ILLINOIS HAD THE FIRST SEEDLING MILE.

PEOPLE WENT ROLLER SKATING ON IT.

THE TOWN OF MALTA HAD DANCES ON IT.

GEOFFREY: MUCH OF THE HIGHWAY WOULD REMAIN UNPAVED.

BUT BY 1916, ADVENTURESOME MOTORISTS WERE MAKING THE MONTHLONG 3,300-MILE TREK.

GEOFFREY: YOU DON'T HAVE AN IPHONE WITH A GPS IN THOSE DAYS.

KAY: NO.

HOW ARE YOU FINDING YOUR WAY ON ALL THESE TWISTS AND TURNS?

KAY: SO THEY HAD ROAD GUIDES AND IT WOULD TELL YOU, GO TWO MILES, TURN LEFT, ZERO OUT YOUR ODOMETER-- GEOFFREY: OH MY GOSH.

THEN GO ANOTHER 1.5 MILES AND THEN CONTINUE ON.

GEOFFREY: AND DUST KICKED UP FROM THE ROADS WAS A CONSTANT NUISANCE.

KAY: PEOPLE WOULD NEED TO WEAR GOGGLES, USUALLY A SCARF, TO KEEP THE DUST FROM GETTING INTO THEIR NOSE AND THEIR MOUTH.

AND THEN PEOPLE WORE WHAT WERE CALLED DUSTERS, A VERY LIGHTWEIGHT COAT THAT WOULD COLLECT THE DUST.

GEOFFREY: CONDITIONS WERE SO POOR THAT WHEN A YOUNG LIEUTENANT COLONEL DWIGHT EISENHOWER MADE THE TRIP WITH A MILITARY CONVOY IN 1919 IT TOOK TWO MONTHS.

WHEN HE CREATED THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM, NEARLY 40 YEARS LATER, THE PAINFUL MEMORIES WERE TOP OF MIND.

DAN: THEY HAVE OVER 200 ACCIDENTS, THEY DESTROY 88 WOODEN BRIDGES.

IT'S MISERABLE.

GEOFFREY: STILL, THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY GAVE CAR-OWNERS A NEW-FOUND SENSE OF FREEDOM.

AMERICANS HAD LONG BEEN ABLE TO CROSS THE COUNTRY BY TRAIN, BUT A NEW PHENOMENON KNOWN AS THE ROAD TRIP LIBERATED TRAVELERS.

THE CAR GAVE PEOPLE THE ABILITY TO GO WHEN THEY WANTED TO, NOT BASED ON A TRAIN SCHEDULE OR WHERE THE TRAIN TRACKS WERE LOCATED.

GEOFFREY: TO CATER TO THESE NEW TOURISTS, SMALL TOWN ENTREPRENEURS BUILT NEW KINDS OF BUSINESSES.

GABRIELLE: SO FIRST YOU NEED TO FEED THE AUTOMOBILE.

THEN, YOU NEED TO FEED THE TRAVELERS.

THEN, THE TRAVELERS NEED A PLACE TO SLEEP.

THEN, YOU SOMETHING SIMPLY TO DIVERT THE TRAVELERS AS THEY'RE PASSING DOWN THE ROAD.

GEOFFREY: SO NEW ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS STARTED POPPING UP.

OH, IT COULD BE ANYTHING FROM GEOLOGICAL ODDITY, OR A PURPOSE BUILT ATTRACTION, THINGS LIKE PAUL BUNYAN.

GEOFFREY: IN THE FOLLOWING DECADES, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WOULD FUND AMBITIOUS HIGHWAY SYSTEMS AND ROAD TRIPPING AMERICANS WOULD CRISS-CROSS THE COUNTRY IN GREATER NUMBERS, BUILDING ON A NATIONAL LOVE-AFFAIR WITH THE OPEN ROAD THAT WAS BORN ON THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.

DAN: THINK ABOUT THIS, I CAN LEAVE MY APARTMENT IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AND I CAN DRIVE TO FAIRBANKS, ALASKA ON AN INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM OF PAVED, PUBLIC HIGHWAYS.

WE TAKE THAT FOR GRANTED TODAY.

THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY CHANGES OUR IDEA OF MOBILITY IN THE UNITED STATES.

WE GO WHEN WE WANT, WHERE WE WANT, AND THERE'S A PUBLIC HIGHWAY NETWORK THAT FACILITATES ALL OF THAT TRAVEL FOR US.

GEOFFREY: IT WAS KNOWN AS THE BLACK WALL STREET.

THERE'S SUCH POTENTIAL HERE.

THERE'S SUCH EXCITEMENT HERE.

GEOFFREY: UNTIL A VIOLENT MOB BURNED IT TO THE GROUND.

WITHIN A DAY THIS WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD IS ASHES.

GONE.

GEOFFREY: SO FAR, WE'VE SEEN HOW STREETS CAN CONNECT AMERICANS, BUT GREENWOOD AVENUE OFFERS A LESSON IN HOW THEY CAN DIVIDE US.

THIS IS HIDDEN AMERICAN HISTORY.

THIS IS WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT THIS BE TOLD.

GEOFFREY: THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES WHO WOULD MAKE THEIR FORTUNES ON GREENWOOD HAD DEEP ROOTS IN OKLAHOMA.

MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, DAVID BURNEY, WAS SLAVE TO A CHICKASAW FAMILY THAT COMES FROM THE EAST TO OKLAHOMA DURING THE TRAIL OF TEARS.

BUT MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER RUNS AWAY AND FIGHTS IN THE CIVIL WAR ON THE UNION FORCES SIDE AND CHANGES HIS NAME TO FRANKLIN.

GEOFFREY: LIFE IN OKLAHOMA WOULD CHANGE OVERNIGHT IN 1901, WITH THE DISCOVERY OF OIL.

TULSA IS THE OIL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD AND THESE NATIVE AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO HAVE BEEN GIVEN THIS LAND THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY VIEWED AS WORTHLESS ARE BECOMING WEALTHY.

SUDDENLY THEY'RE SITTING ON OIL.

BEVERLY HILLBILLY.

[LAUGHS] GEOFFREY: JOHN'S GRANDFATHER BECAME A LAWYER AND HELPED HIS COMMUNITY CASH IN ON THE BLACK GOLD BENEATH THEIR FEET.

WAS HE WORRIED THAT THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN LAND OWNERS WOULD GET CHEATED OF THIS OIL WEALTH?

I THINK THAT'S THE FEAR, THAT'S A FEAR.

YOUR FEAR OF NOT HAVING ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION, AND THEREFORE, NOT GETTING YOUR FAIR SHAKE.

GEOFFREY: DESPITE THEIR NEWFOUND WEALTH AFRICAN-AMERICANS WEREN'T WELCOME IN TULSA'S PROSPEROUS CITY CENTER.

SO THEY BUILT THEIR OWN DOWNTOWN ON GREENWOOD AVENUE, WHICH IS LITERALLY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS.

MARSHALL: THE RAILROAD TRACKS ARE NOT A WALL, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY A LINE.

AND IT'S A LINE THAT'S ALWAYS VISIBLE AND IT'S PHYSICAL.

GEOFFREY: CONTAINED BY SEGREGATION AND FUELED BY OIL MONEY, GREENWOOD BECAME THE BLACK WALL STREET.

IT BOASTED FIFTEEN DOCTORS, FOUR HOTELS, TWO THEATERS, AND TWO NEWSPAPERS.

JOHN: THIS IS YOUR TURF AND THIS IS WHERE YOUR RESTAURANTS AND NIGHTCLUBS AND THEATERS AND, OF COURSE, ATTORNEYS' OFFICES ARE ON THIS STREET.

YOUR GRANDFATHER.

JOHN: MY GRANDFATHER, BUCK COLBERT FRANKLIN.

GEOFFREY: SO THESE KINDS OF BLACK BUSINESS DISTRICTS WERE BUILT ALL OVER THE COUNTRY DURING THE ERA OF SEGREGATION, RIGHT?

OH YES BECAUSE I COULDN'T TRY ON CLOTHES IN YOUR DEPARTMENT STORE.

I COULDN'T GO TO YOUR THEATER.

SO BLACKS HAD THE WEALTH TO SUPPORT THEIR OWN BUSINESSES IN WASHINGTON, IN PHILADELPHIA, IN NEW YORK, IN CHICAGO.

GEOFFREY: BUT IN TULSA, IT WOULD ALL BE DESTROYED IN A MATTER OF HOURS.

ON MAY 30, 1921, A YOUNG AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN STEPPED INTO A DOWNTOWN ELEVATOR OPERATED BY A WHITE TEENAGE GIRL.

NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT ELEVATOR, BUT THE TULSA TRIBUNE CLAIMED HE ATTACKED HER.

THEY ARREST THE MAN, THEY TAKE HIM TO THE COURTHOUSE, AND PUT HIM IN THE JAIL CELL IN THE TOP OF THE BUILDING.

BLACK WORLD WAR I VETERANS COME DOWN ARMED TO PROTECT HIM BECAUSE THEY FEAR THERE'LL BE A LYNCHING.

WHITES COME, AND THERE'S A CONFRONTATION, AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE.

GEOFFREY: THOUSANDS OF WHITE TULSANS CROSSED THE TRACKS ONTO GREENWOOD AVENUE BRANDISHING RIFLES AND WORSE.

JOHN: A MACHINE GUN IS SET UP AND PEOPLE ARE MACHINE GUNNED DOWN IN THE STREETS.

WE HAVE THE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF PEOPLE HEARING WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS HAIL HITTING THEIR HOMES AND IT'S ACTUALLY BULLETS AND THEY CAN SEE THE MACHINE GUN WITH AN AMERICAN FLAG ON IT.

GEOFFREY: AIRPLANES BOMBARDED GREENWOOD FROM ABOVE.

FLYING ABOVE THIS AREA AND DROPPING BURNING TURPENTINE BALLS.

SO THE MEN ARE TAKEN OUT OF THEIR HOMES AND THEN THEY'RE MARCHED DOWN THESE STREETS.

RIGHT HERE.

RIGHT HERE AND WALKED DOWN TO THE CONVENTION HALL, WHERE THEY WERE DETAINED.

GEOFFREY: NO ONE KNOWS FOR SURE HOW MANY DIED, FIGURES RANGE FROM 38 TO 300.

GREENWOOD AVENUE HAD BURNED TO THE GROUND.

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR GRANDFATHER?

SO, THE MONEY HE SAVED IS BURNED UP WITH ALL HIS POSSESSIONS.

HIS OFFICE IS BURNED, HE HAS NOTHING.

GEOFFREY: BUCK FRANKLIN CONTINUED TO PRACTICE LAW OUT OF A TENT UNTIL HE AND HIS COMMUNITY COULD REBUILD!

IT RISES OUT OF THE ASHES-- JOHN: LIKE A PHOENIX.

GEOFFREY: LIKE A PHOENIX.

GEOFFREY: BUT WHERE THE TRACKS HAD ONCE SEPARATED GREENWOOD AVENUE FROM THE REST OF TULSA, SOON AN EVEN BIGGER BARRIER WOULD RISE.

THIS HAPPENS.

EISENHOWER INTERSTATE.

THIS IS THE 50'S, DON'T HAVE VOTING RIGHTS YET.

SO WHEN THE DECISIONS ARE MADE WHERE TO BUILD A HIGHWAY, WE HAVE NO VOICE AND THE HIGHWAY COMES STRAIGHT THROUGH THIS BUSINESS DISTRICT.

THROUGHOUT AMERICA THE INTERSTATE SYSTEM DESTROYS BLACK BUSINESS DISTRICTS BECAUSE THEY'RE THE WEAKEST IN POLITICAL POWER TO RESIST.

GEOFFREY: BUT TODAY NEAR THIS STREET THAT'S LONG BEEN SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF THE CITY, THERE IS A NEW RECONCILIATION PARK.

IT'S NAMED FOR THE FAMOUS SCHOLAR OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY, JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN.

THE PARK IS DEDICATED TO YOUR FATHER.

THAT'S RIGHT.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?

IT'S WONDERFUL, IT'S WARMING.

THE IDEA OF THE PARK IS TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER.

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO LEARN THEIR REAL HISTORY OF THIS CITY, FOR VISITORS TO LEARN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY AND AS A MECHANISM OF BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER.

GEOFFREY: IT WAS A PLAN SO UNLIKELY SOME THOUGHT IT WOULD TAKE A MIRACLE TO SUCCEED: TRANSFORM A DIRT ROAD WAY OUT IN THE SUBURBS INTO A NEW KIND OF SHOPPING DISTRICT THAT CATERED TO CAR TRAFFIC.

IT SOUNDS LIKE A SUBURBAN SHOPPING CENTER.

IT IS A SUBURBAN SHOPPING CENTER, IT'S A SHOPPING CENTER WITHOUT THE ROOF ON TOP.

GEOFFREY: THIS EXPERIMENT IN CAPITALISM WOULDN'T BE HERE ON WILSHIRE IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE OUTSPOKEN SOCIALIST, HENRY GAYLORD WILSHIRE.

HE WASN'T AFRAID TO PUT HIS POLITICS ASIDE.

HE TRIED EVERY KIND OF MONEY MAKING SCHEME THERE WAS, RIGHT?

OH, YEAH.

GAYLORD WILSHIRE OWNED A GRAPEFRUIT FARM, HE HAD AN OSTRICH RANCH, HE EVEN WAS A GOLD PROSPECTOR, HE HAD A GOLD MINE HE HAD PEOPLE INVEST IN.

GEOFFREY: AND HE GAMBLED ON THE FUTURE OF LOS ANGELES.

GAYLORD WILSHIRE PREDICTED THE SMALL TOWN WOULD EVENTUALLY SRAWL WEST TOWARD THE SEA.

SO HE BUILT A FANCY SUBDIVISION WEST OF TOWN WITH A WIDE BOULEVARD DOWN THE MIDDLE, WHERE HE HOPED TO KEEP IT CLASSY.

ERIC: GAYLORD WILSHIRE WANTED THIS TO BE GREEN, QUIET AND BUCOLIC AND THAT MEANT THAT HE FORBADE ANY TROLLEY CARS, NO TRUCKS, NO SHIPPING, NONE OF THOSE SERVICES WERE ALLOWED ON WILSHIRE.

GEOFFREY: GAYLORD WILSHIRE'S PROPHECY CAME TRUE IN THE 1910S.

AS AUTOMOBILES TOOK OVER LOS ANGELES, THE CITY EXPANDED TOWARD THE OCEAN.

BUT RESIDENTS OF NEW SUBURBS LIKE BEVERY HILLS STILL HAD TO DRIVE DOWNTOWN TO SHOP.

AND THAT'S WHERE A REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER NAMED A.W.

ROSS SAW AN OPPORTUNITY.

WITH ALL OF THESE WELL-TO-DO PEOPLE IN THEIR BIG, BEAUTIFUL HOMES, HE REALIZED THAT THESE HOUSEWIVES MAY NOT WANT TO DRIVE ALL THE WAY TO DOWNTOWN IN ORDER TO DO THEIR SHOPPING.

GEOFFREY: ROSS WOULD BRING SHOPPING TO THE SUBURBS WITH A REVOLUTIONARY NEW COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR.

UNLIKE FAMED SHOPPING DISTRICTS LIKE NEW YORK'S LADIES MILE, ROSS'S MILE WOULD GIVE LITTLE CONSIDERATION TO FOOT TRAFFIC.

REED: HE IS ANTICIPATING A CITY LIFE WHERE THE CAR IS GOING TO BE THE DRIVER OF DEVELOPMENT.

GEOFFREY: ROSS GOT OUT A MAP AND SEARCHED FOR A LOCATION.

HE SETTLED ON A FAR AWAY STRETCH OF GAYLORD WILSHIRE'S BOULEVARD.

DESPITE MR. WILSHIRE'S ASPIRATIONS FOR THE STREET, THIS SECTION WAS DOWNRIGHT UGLY.

IT WAS SURROUNDED BY OIL DERRICKS AND BUBBLING TAR PITS AND THERE WERE TWO AIRFIELDS NEARBY, SO EVERYTHING WAS JUST DUSTY, MESSY.

GEOFFREY: THE AREA LOOKED SO UNPROMISING, A DEVELOPER LATER SUGGESTED A.W.

ROSS OWED HIS SUCCESS TO DIVINE INTERVENTION.

ERIC: THE ODDS WERE COMPLETELY AGAINST HIM AND THAT'S WHERE THE MIRACLE LIES.

THAT'S HOW IT GOT THE NAME MIRACLE MILE?

ERIC: YEAH, IT DID.

GEOFFREY: ROSS AND HIS RETAILERS ERECTED EYE-CATCHING ARCHITECTURE DESIGNED TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

ERIC: HE WANTED TO CREATE A SPECTACLE FOR THE MOTORIST IN ORDER TO GET THEM TO STOP THEIR CAR AND GET OUT.

ARCHITECTURALLY THE BUILDINGS WERE BEGGING FOR PEOPLE TO STOP AND LOOK AROUND.

GEOFFREY: SOME BUILDINGS WERE DESIGNED TO SHOW SPEEDING MOTORISTS WHAT THEY COULD BUY INSIDE.

HE EVEN HAD A GIANT, BLACK VITROLITE CAMERA.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BUILDING LOOKED LIKE A CAMERA.

THEY SOLD CAMERAS.

GEOFFREY: BUT THE BIGGEST INNOVATION COULDN'T BE SEEN FROM THE STREET.

HUGE PARKING LOTS DREW MOTORISTS BEHIND THE BUILDINGS, WHERE CUSTOMERS ENTERED STORES THROUGH THE BACK DOOR.

OUT FRONT, THE SIDEWALK WAS NOW AN AFTERTHOUGHT.

ERIC: THE SAYING IS, YOU COULD SHOOT A CANNON DOWN THE SIDEWALK ON THE MIRACLE MILE AND NOT HIT ANYBODY BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL ACCESSING THE STORES FROM THE PARKING LOT.

GEOFFREY: IN THE 70 YEARS, BETWEEN THE LADIES MILE AND THE MIRACLE MILE THE CAR HAD PUSHED PEDESTRIANS OFF THE STREET.

WILSHIRE'S SUCCESS POINTED TO A FUTURE WHERE THE STREET WOULD BE ELIMINATED ALTOGETHER.

IT'S NOT REALLY FAR FROM A LONG NARROW STREET WITH STORES ON EITHER SIDE OF IT TO AN ENCLOSED LONG NARROW STREET WITH STORES ON EITHER SIDE OF IT.

IT'S A SHOPPING MALL.

AND IT DESTROYS, IT QUICKLY DESTROYS THE URBAN PATTERN OF MOST CITIES.

GEOFFREY: KALAMAZOO HAD AN EXTRAORDINARY SOLUTION TO A FAMILIAR PROBLEM.

THE PROBLEM: SHOPPERS WERE ABANDONING ITS DOWNTOWN IN THE 1950S.

THE RETAIL WAS MOVING OUT TO THE MALLS, SO-- THE MALLS.

THE MALLS.

I KNOW, I KNOW.

I MEAN THAT REALLY SHOOK THEM.

GEOFFREY: IN A DRASTIC ATTEMPT TO BATTLE THE MALLS, KALAMAZOO WOULD TURN A MAIN STREET INTO A MALL.

LYNNE: I DON'T WANT TO SAY THAT THEY WERE DESPERATE, BUT THEY WANTED TO DO SOMETHING THAT I THINK WOULD SHAKE THINGS UP AND THIS CERTAINLY WOULD.

GEOFFREY: THE ARCHITECT OF THIS URBAN EXPERIMENT WAS NONE OTHER THAN VICTOR GRUEN: THE FATHER OF THE MODERN SHOPPING MALL.

GRUEN HAD INVENTED THE FORMULA FOR THE MODERN MALL AT SHOPPING CENTERS OUTSIDE MINNEAPOLIS AND DETROIT.

HIS MALL DESIGNS GREW OUT OF HIS LIFE AS A REFUGEE.

AN AUSTRIAN-JEWISH IMMIGRANT FORCED TO FLEE THE NAZIS, GRUEN RECREATED THE VIBRANT VIENNA STREET LIFE OF HIS CHILDHOOD.

IN A WAY WHAT HE TRIED TO DO WAS BRING VIENNA TO AMERICA, IN OTHER WORDS, BRING THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE WHERE YOU WALK AND MEET PEOPLE AND INTERACT WITH PEOPLE.

A SOCIABLE EXPERIENCE.

AM I TALKING ABOUT A DREAM?

IT MAY SOUND LIKE ONE... GEOFFREY: GRUEN OFFERED KALAMAZOO A FUTURISTIC VISION OF LIFE IN THE YEAR 1980.

LOOKING AROUND US IN ALL DIRECTIONS, YOU SEE THE METROPOLITAN AREA.

GEOFFREY: SHOPPERS WOULD GLIDE DOWNTOWN ON A SYSTEM OF TRAFFIC-FREE ROADS, DITCH THEIR CARS AT AN OUTER RING OF PARKING.

FROM THERE, THEY CAN WALK TWO AND A HALF MINUTES TO THE VERY MIDDLE.

WHERE THEY WOULD STROLL GEOFFREY: ON A CAR-FREE PEDESTRIAN MALL.

AND SO, THEY CAN WALK IN AN ENVIRONMENT VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE WHICH THEY SEE TODAY.

GEOFFREY: ELIMINATING CARS, HE HOPED, WOULD LIBERATE SHOPPERS FROM THE SO-CALLED TYRANNY OF THE AUTOMOBILE.

GRUEN: WE MUST DISCONTINUE THIS UNUSABLE PECKING OF MIXING AUTOMOBILES AND PEOPLE.

THIS MEDLEY OF MACHINES AND FLESH.

PETER: HE'S VITRIOLIC ABOUT CARS, THEY'RE MECHANICAL MONSTERS TO HIM AND HE THINK IT'S INSANE TO HAVE EVERY STREET IN THE CITY PRIMARILY COMMITTED TO MOVING CARS.

GEOFFREY: GRUEN'S CAR-FREE STREET WOULD FEEL SAFE.

SO SHOPPERS COULD LINGER, LOWER THEIR GUARD AND SPEND MONEY.

PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO FEEL A KIND OF RELAXATION THAT LOWERS THEIR PURCHASING THRESHOLDS.

IT'S LIKE, A SORT OF TRANCE.

GEOFFREY: KALAMAZOO OFFICIALLY CLOSED A DOWNTOWN STREET TO CARS IN 1959 AND IT WAS A SUCCESS, AT FIRST.

THE MALL IS A VERY PLEASANT PLACE TO DO A BIT OF SHOPPING OR TO SPEND A LITTLE TIME ENJOYING ITS BEAUTY.

LYNNE: THEY'VE GOT STATISTICS AS FAR AS THE INCREASE IN RETAIL AND THE INCREASE IN THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY.

IN SOME INSTANCES, THEY CALLED THE MALL THE SAVIOR.

GEOFFREY: BUT THE PEDESTRIAN MALL ULTIMATELY PROVED NO MATCH FOR THE REAL THING.

COMPARED TO SUBURBAN MALLS, SHOPPERS COMPLAINED THERE WASN'T ENOUGH PARKING AND SAFETY BECAME A CONCERN AS DOWNTOWN KALAMAZOO GREW DESOLATE ONCE AGAIN.

IN 1998, ALL BUT TWO BLOCKS WERE REOPENED TO CARS.

WHY DID THEY REOPEN THE STREET?

I THINK THAT THEY THOUGHT THAT THE TIME OF THE DOWNTOWN PEDESTRIAN MALL WAS OVER.

GEOFFREY: THE SAME PATTERN PLAYED OUT ACROSS AMERICA.

200 CITIES EMULATED GRUEN'S KALAMAZOO EXPERIMENT, MOST EVENTUALLY REOPENED THEIR PEDESTRIAN MALLS TO TRAFFIC.

PEOPLE DIDN'T LIVE NEAR THE CENTER ANYMORE SO THEY DIDN'T NEED TO SHOP NEAR THE CENTER.

THEY WANTED TO SHOP WHERE THEY LIVED, RIGHT?

WHY WOULD I GO BACK DOWNTOWN?

VICTOR GRUEN'S NOTION OF MALLING MAIN STREET WAS A BANDAGE ON AN AMPUTATED LEG.

GEOFFREY: BUT TODAY, AS PEOPLE AND DOLLARS HAVE BEEN FLOWING BACK INTO URBAN CENTERS SOME OF VICTOR GRUEN'S IDEAS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK.

CASE IN POINT: BROADWAY, WHERE WE STARTED OUR SHOW.

CITY PLANNERS HAVE BEEN CLOSING LANES OF CAR TRAFFIC TO CREATE SPACES FOR PEOPLE TO WALK, BIKE, OR SIT AND SOCIALIZE.

GEOFFREY: WE'RE ACTUALLY KIND OF GOING BACK TO AN OLD IDEA OF STREETS BEING NOT JUST FOR VEHICLES.

MICHELLE: RIGHT.

CITIES WERE ORIGINALLY FOR PEOPLE WALKING OR IN HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGES, AND THEN THE CAR CAME ALONG.

SO NOW, INSTEAD OF CARS RACING THROUGH, WE CAN HAVE PLACES FOR PEOPLE TO MEET AND TO RUN INTO EACH OTHER.

PUBLIC SPACE.

THE GOAL IS TO RETURN STREETS TO AN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT CONNECTS US AS HUMAN BEINGS, CONNECTS OUR BODIES AS OPPOSED TO SEPARATING THEM.

I THINK WHAT EVERYONE IS TRYING TO DO IS TURN THE STREET BACK INTO A PLACE THAT BRINGS US TOGETHER, RATHER THAN KEEPING US APART.

AN ANNOUNCER: TO LEARN MORE VISIT US ONLINE AT PBS.ORG/TENTHATCHANGEDAMERICA.

TEN THAT CHANGED AMERICA IS AVAILABLE ON DVD.

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