The Moses Shows

Anyone seen any of the three museum shows in New York on Robert Moses, the colossus of urban planning? I myself have not, seeing as how I live 3,000 miles away from them. To recap: highly controversial figure, built many public works from the 1920s through the 1960s, in the end wanted to destroy neighborhoods to build freeways, ultimately brought low by grassroots organizing and the sainted Jane Jacobs via her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities.The exhibits have gotten a lot of ink in the New York press and the planning press. An excerpt from Ada Louise Huxtable's review in the Wall Street Journal today, and other rantings, after the jump.

3 minute read

March 14, 2007, 11:02 AM PDT

By Anonymous


Anyone seen any of the three museum shows in New York on Robert Moses, the colossus of urban planning? I myself have not, seeing as how I live 3,000 miles away from them. To recap: highly controversial figure, built many public works from the 1920s through the 1960s, in the end wanted to destroy neighborhoods to build freeways, ultimately brought low by grassroots organizing and the sainted Jane Jacobs via her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

The exhibits have gotten a lot of ink in the New York press and the planning press. An excerpt from Ada Louise Huxtable's review in the Wall Street Journal today, and other rantings, after the jump.

It was obvious that those who remembered the midnight bulldozers sent into Central Park to rip up a playground for more parking for the Tavern on the Green, or the road that would have bisected Washington Square Park with high-speed traffic-both opposed by "a bunch of mothers"-were still clinging to Moses' image of audacious evil. Some (there are still a few of us) who manned the ramparts against his most damaging interventions and were submitted to his most creative villifications were resisting his canonization. The fight to kill the infamous Lower Manhattan Expressway that would have destroyed SoHo, much of the Cast Iron District, and parts of Chinatown, Little Italy and the West Village (Moses insisted there was nothing to save) is a subject that defies detachment.

Well...lookit me! I'm detached!

Seriously, aren't you people tired of having the Moses/Jacobs/Mumford argument? I mean, it's 50 years old. And it's really the same argument as the one the New Urbanists wage, or the big-box developers wage: It's between giving people what they need and giving people what they want.



(And, just to add some shades of grey to my oversimplification, it's about recognizing the difference, and knowing when to follow which impulse.)

No amount of involving the public in planning decisions-no matter how fancy the technology is that you use-will change the fact that for most folks, public transit and walkable neighborhoods are fantastic ideas for other people. I hate my twice-daily driving commute; I hate trying to figure out how to get my kid to day care and still ride the (infrequent, uncomfortable) bus more. I hate shopping at Target/CostCo/Home Depot; I hate figuring out how to get 36 rolls of toilet paper and seven eight-foot-long redwood 2x4s home more.

And as long as I'm ranting about what I hate, I also hate the idea of razing the world's best neighborhoods for freeways. But I also also hate Jacob's idealized version of the West Village as a place that human beings of all ages and incomes can live in comfortable harmony. It was, frankly, a lie, from its assumption that a even a small family of professionals like mine can afford to live anywhere near a downtown to it's assertion that a life there was anything approaching convenient.

So, what do I want?

Um...let me think about it and get back to you.

Meanwhile, if anyone goes to see the Moses shows, email me a few pictures at adam underscore rogers at wired dot com. I'll post them in another blog entry.

 


portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Haussmann's redesign of Paris in the 1850s through 1870s under Napoleon III.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking

Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

June 30, 2025 - Tom Sanchez

Red and white "Wildfire Evacuation Route" sign on signpost.

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions

An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

July 10 - The Markup

Protester at Echo Park Lake, Los Angeles holding sign that says "Housing is a human right"

What Happens if Trump Kills Section 8?

The Trump admin aims to slash federal rental aid by nearly half and shift distribution to states. Experts warn this could spike homelessness and destabilize communities nationwide.

July 10 - Shelterforce Magazine

Aerial of rainbow painted crosswalks at large intersection in Castro District, Sna Francisco, California.

Sean Duffy Targets Rainbow Crosswalks in Road Safety Efforts

Despite evidence that colorful crosswalks actually improve intersection safety — and the lack of almost any crosswalks at all on the nation’s most dangerous arterial roads — U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy is calling on states to remove them.

July 10 - Streetsblog USA

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Home and Land Services Coordinator

Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA

Write for Planetizen