Detroit may have been the Motor City, but New York City was where the car became king, according to a new book and exhibit which look at the history of the automobile in New York in the early 1900s.
The exhibit is now open at the Museum of the City of New York, accompanied by the book "Cars, Culture and the City," by Phil Patton and museum curator Donald Albrecht.
"'Taking a look at what Park Avenue looked like with the horse and buggies, the car really transformed a lot, and you realize there's this amazing love affair with freedom of mobility - and the car really gave that to the average person,' said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.
But the book by Mr. Albrecht and Mr. Patton makes clear that the automobile caught on first with upper-crust types. 'And since a lot of rich people lived in New York, the car was a New York thing,' Mr. Albrecht said.
He said that of the 8,000 cars in the United States in 1900, nearly a third were owned by New Yorkers. They raced them at City Hall Park and built getaway roads. William K. Vanderbilt II, a great-grandson of the railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, built a parkway on Long Island."
FULL STORY: Cars and the City, Imperfect Together

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

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

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions