Divided Highway. As a freeway comes down, Syracuse, New York, faces its legacy of segregation

[Midnightwalk]

For more than 50 years, Interstate 81 has cut through the heart of hard-luck Syracuse, New York, raining vehicle exhaust on its Southside neighborhood, where most residents are Black and poor.

Now, New York State wants to replace that elevated stretch of freeway with a street-level boulevard to knit the city’s urban grid back together. Construction could begin as soon as next year.

The plan has stirred visions of renewal in a city where one in three residents lives in poverty. Some here say it could also make amends to Black residents who were displaced by Interstate 81’s construction decades ago and have been living in its shadow ever since.'

“When they put that highway up they destroyed this community,” said David Rufus, a lifelong Southside resident who is now an organizer for the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). “Now here’s an opportunity to right that wrong by bringing it down.”

[link:https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-BIDEN/INFRASTRUCTURE-FREEWAYS/qzjpqbzzyvx/|]

[AllaN01Bear]

1. freeways were sent into poor and minority communities as they didnt have the resources to fight them

freeways devided communites . street cars, trams and subways built them.

[Midnightwalk]

2. I've become a lot more aware over the past decade or so

Especially when I walk around different places.

Above ground railroad tracks are often fenced/barricaded then are the same. There are sections of my small city that are fenced off between the mile or so between major streets for at least 2-3 miles so you can't go east/west easily. It's obvious meant to keep the wrong people from travelling that way.

Some neighborhoods have a few entries/exits for car traffic, but fence off every other possible way through. Washes, vacant lots, even store parking lots completely fenced in.

Bridges over natural or man made barriers facilitate going between neighborhoods, but you learn to see what's connected an what isn't, and what looks inviting to cross vs creepy.

Zoning matters too. You don't seem many people walking through industrial areas that connect different neighborhoods and the "dead zone" often extends past them.

Walking gives you time to see it and start noticing what is easily connected and what isn't.

The article gave some history of Syracuse which I found interesting. I remember explaining red lining to a friend years ago and his surprise that there was such a thing.