Could They Build It Today?

We take so much for granted in the buildings and infrastructure, cultural centers and icons that make America possible, especially life in urban centers. We celebrate them. Many are revered landmarks. Yet, most could not be built today. Community opposition, especially in affluent communities, environmental laws, especially restrictions on developments in wetlands, zoning ordinances and bureaucracies, environmental impact statements, NIMBY’s, and low to slow growth policies, stop major and minor projects. A simple example is that almost a decade passed before Ground Zero could be rebuilt. Here are some of these American classics: Arroyo Seco Parkway The Bay Bridge (The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge) Bonneville Dam Brooklyn Bridge Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel The Dalles Empire State Building Fenway Park George Washington Bridge Golden Gate Bridge Grand Central Station Grand Coulee Dam Griffith Observatory Hetch Hetchy Highway 66 Hoover Dam Interstate Highway System Kennedy Airport LaGuardia Airport LAX Levittown Lincoln Center Logan Airport Los Angeles Aqueduct Madison Square Garden Oakland Airport Penn Station Pennsylvania Turnpike Pike Place Market Quabbin Reservoir River Rouge Plant Rockefeller Center Rose Bowl St. Lawrence Seaway San Diego Airport SFO Taconic Parkway Triborough Bridge Union Station (all of them) Whitestone Bridge Wrigley Field