The Art of City Design

A streetscape from 1930 depicts what US policies are just trying to re-establish. A failed bill in Colorado would have made scenes like this much more common. Transit-oriented construction. Dense housing with shops on the first floor. We, in the U.S., had these dense cityscapes too. Our cities looked much the same in the 1930s. After WWII, the federal government began building the interstate system and implemented policies to destroy many sections of our cities. We pushed to move to the suburbs and established the American Dream as having a house, a big yard, and a white picket fence. Everyone needs to have their own plot of land.

It is possible to live as a family in a dense urban setting. I will write more on this topic in the future. For now, enjoy this little picture of urbanism from the 1930s. One of a few paintings by Hanns Kralik. He is better known for his anti-fascist pamphlets. The Nazi party destroyed much of his work. This is at the Chicago Institute of Art.