Author Jane Jacobs dedicates the seventh chapter in her 1961 book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” to the topic of diversity in cities. She touches on the fact that when most people speak of a city, the word diversity is almost impossible to not be mentioned. In terms of New York City, Jacobs focuses on the Bronx; a borough which she views as lacking in “urban vitality, diversity, and magnetism” (Jacobs 149). What Jacobs didn’t mention was the changes that were happening at the time in the Bronx. In specific we can look at one of the biggest projects of the time: the building of the Cross Bronx Expressway by Robert Moses from 1948-1972.
A 2001 article entitled “Decades Later, Doing the Cross Bronx Expressway Right” by Matt Sedensky introduces the perspective of a Bronx citizen who experiences first hand the impact that Robert Moses’ construction had. While it is a short article, it shares the thought process of Mr. McNamara who referred to the project as “a catastrophe for the people up here”. During the time of construction the values of properties fell due to the Expressway which has arguably lead to the neighborhoods surrounding it to be continuously poor. In her book, Jacobs quotes Kate Simon who mentioned that “The [Bronx zoo] neighborhood trails off sadly into a no mans land…” (Jacob 149-50). When you think of this in the context of the article above, this makes sense. Construction at the time left many neighborhoods uninhabited and extremely poor.
However this was at the time that Jane Jacobs wrote and published her book. Since then the completion of Robert Moses’ projects have long finished and their impacts have influenced the creation of other similar projects. When you look at the diversity of the Bronx in recent years, Joseph Salvo, population director of the city Planning Department states that “A borough which was, at one time, largely native-born is now a mix of groups that, in the history of the Bronx, could be unprecedented”. Salvo also explains that this increase in population diversity creates new activities and businesses with qualities that come to be associated with the Bronx. So while Jacobs may have been correct in her depiction of the Bronx at the time, who would she attribute the growing diversity to in todays time? I think it would be worth it to, as Nick mentions in his post, look at the adaptability factor in terms of Moses’ ideas. Perhaps Moses’ was at fault for the lack of diversity in the 19oo’s and perhaps he is also the reason so much diversity exists today.
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