Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Cartographer Berman’s comprehensive debut succinctly recounts the histories of 23 public mass transit systems built by American cities in the 20th century. . . . For each city, Berman provides his own exquisitely illustrated maps of past, existing, and proposed transit systems. The result is a valuable resource for transit enthusiasts." * Publishers Weekly *
“Effectively illustrated with past and current system maps, this collection offers fresh insights into how large cities can—or don’t—work.” * Booklist, starred review *
"In addition to commenting on contemporary situations, Berman’s book is also a rewarding look into the history that informs our contemporary transit mess. For instance, he does an apt job of retelling the oft-told defeat of Los Angeles’s streetcar system by freeway – including a strange moment in which an LA monorail almost took hold. This retelling makes for the perfect prologue to Berman’s discussion of LA’s decades-long pursuit of a viable light rail system, which continues to this day." * The Guardian *
“If your daily life, too, is governed by the whims of your local subway, this book is for you. Cartographer Jake Berman uncovers the ghosts of bygone transit systems and incomplete transportation plans of 23 cities across North America. The maps appear alongside explanations of the systemic inequities that permanently altered the transportation systems we still use today. Also, you may finally get an answer as to why your subway is consistently 20 minutes late.”
* Hyperallergic *
"Using meticulous archival research, the cartographer and artist has successfully plotted maps of old train networks covering 23 North American metropolises." * Globe and Mail *
“Berman’s lively history of American subway debates takes us beyond the usual nostalgia of so much writing on the topic. It helps us to see how our ancestors’ values and motivations created the infrastructure we have and gives us the courage to make better choices now.” * Jarrett Walker, author of Human Transit *
“Berman’s comprehensive research and accessible writing style make for easy reading, and his complementary text greatly assists the reader in comprehending each locale’s unique situation. It is as much a critique of the rise and fall of industrial cities as it is a history of failed transit schemes, for which it should become recommended reading for anyone interested in the effects of unbridled capitalism, corrupt politics, and big egos on North American daily life.” * Mark Ovenden, author of Underground Cities *
“Berman’s many exceptional maps are provocations worth thousands of words each, conveying a history of relative transportation abundance in the U.S. There is no other book on public transportation like it.” * Steven Higashide, author of Better Buses, Better Cities *
“A comprehensive and accessible history of a profoundly consequential and underexplored cultural event. It makes you wonder at what was lost.” * Angie Schmitt, author of Right of Way *
“Berman takes us on a whirlwind cartographic and textual tour of urban rail transit’s lost lines and unbuilt extensions. Time and again, American voters and political leaders rejected or abandoned plans to create big, fast, bold transit systems that could compete with automobiles. While we can’t go back and change history, Berman provides a clear vision of just how much was lost.” * Nicholas Dagen Bloom, author of The Great American Transit Disaster *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
A Brief Primer on Transit and Urban Development
1 Atlanta: The City Too Busy to Hate
2 Boston: Urban Institutions, Megaprojects, and City Revival
3 Chicago: The Loop Elevated, Beloved Steel Eyesore
4 Cincinnati: A Short History of a Never-Used Subway
5 Cleveland: Transit and the Perils of Waterfront Redevelopment
6 Dallas: They Don’t Build Them Like They Used To
7 Detroit: The City-Suburban Rift and the Most Useless Transit System in the World
8 Houston: The City of Organic Growth
9 Los Angeles: 72 Suburbs in Search of a City
10 Miami: Overpromise, Underdeliver
11 Minneapolis–St. Paul: The Mob Takeover of Twin Cities Rapid Transit
12 Montreal: The Metro as Showcase Megaproject
13 New Orleans: How a Big City Grew into a Small Town
14 New York City: The Tortured History of the Second Avenue Subway
15 Philadelphia: How Not to Run a Railroad
16 Pittsburgh: How to Make Buses Work
17 Richmond: The First Streetcar System
18 Rochester: The Only City to Open a Subway, Then Close It
19 San Francisco: The View from Geary Street
20 Seattle: Consensus through Exhaustion
21 Toronto: Subway Line as Political Football
22 Vancouver: An Exceptional Elevated
23 Washington, DC: The Freeway Revolt and the Creation of Metro
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Further Reading
List of Archives Used
Index
