Maps Across the Years

This past Tuesday we started up with the Praxis Lab once again! This class is such an eye-opener for me, exposing me to so many things that I would otherwise not think about. I had never thought about how pedestrian unfriendly the city has become. We looked at several maps depicting the changes that have occurred in major cities across the US. Here we are supposed to give our phenomenological responses to each city, so here come the profanities...

City #1 Cincinnati

So, I myself have never been to this city, having an extreme dislike for Ohio since I got a speeding ticket there two years ago. However, this transformation is monstrous. All of these close knit communities were DEMOLISHED to make way for freeways, and I can't help but think that this was the first step into laziness for our country! The making of freeways gave way to a whole wave of products that are for "convenience," but seem to me to make the general public lazier! I also see a TON of sport's fields which FEEDS my fury against professional sports, but hey, it's entertainment right? >:(

City #2 Detroit

Also a city I am unfamiliar with, but I wouldn't mind getting to know it a little better! I hate the development of freeways and taking the city away from pedestrians! So many freeways were constructed, and none of the new open space seems to be used for pars or anything of the sort, it all seems to go to freeways!

City #3 St. Louis

I am going against something I said in my previous paragraph but one of the baseball fields that looks like it might have been a neighborhood spot towards the bottom of this map is totally abandoned!

City #4 Kansas City

Now here, houses were demolished to make way for a MASSIVE FUCKING PARK and I have no idea what it is used for. I hope mainly recreational purposes, but I don't see a lot of open space. All I can see are the tops of trees from the birds-eye view! WHAT could a plot with just trees be for? A weirdo nature walk that no one goes on?

City #5 Milwaukee

This is an example of maybe what could be done to other major cities. The before version of this map already has freeways surrounding the city, but none in the center. Instead, there are many tight-knit neighborhoods with lots of little quaint houses. A great place for people to interact and raise kids, making sure they are cultured! I hate that this "White flight" came into play and separated young kids from one another, instead of there being an opportunity to become more cultured and less biased.

City #6 Indianapolis

This one REALLY bums me out! I see on the right in the before map that there was riverfront property, replaced by I don't even know WHAT. It looks like there is an industrial sort of building there now, maybe a factory, but I'm not sure! Also, maybe some softball fields, which would be neat to have next to the river, but I think the property would have held more value and the older houses would have been awesome to preserve next to the river.

City #7 Cleveland

WHAT IS THE DAMN PURPOSE FOR PUTTING CONCRETE IN THE MIDDLE OF A RIVER? THAT MAKES NO SENSE. There are other ways to make docks if that is what they are EVEN FOR. This is really disappointing to me, I don't think the integrity of any natural resource should be compromised in this or any other negative WAY.

City #8 Columbus

WAS THIS WHOLE FUCKING CITY DEMOLISHED OF HOUSES TO MAKE WAY FOR DUMBASS BUILDINGS? This is unbelievable. I don't think that there is one single house left in this portion of the map. UNLESS THEY ARE ALL HUGE. I am appalled that this city, full of wonderful little communities was destroyed for what seems like NOTHING. I want to know what this portion of the map is, but I have also never been to this city, in fact, I don't think I have been to any of these cities!

The second portion of this assignment was to compare these maps to a conversation we had with a graduate student from Georgetown University. Her work centers around the stripping away of women's rights of Suni and Shiite women. These cities, in a way are like these women, they have lost so much that is important to them. They have been stripped away to just being used instead of being loved. It is not fair for the cities or the women, but they are both helpless unless they fight back. We are the only way for the cities to fight back, but the women can fight back for themselves, and I love that this movement is happening NOW! It needed to happen centuries ago.