American city

is marked by a contrast between the formidable power, the inexhaustible abundance of what is called the 'American Colossus ' and the puny insignificance of those little houses that line the widest roads in the world . In this contrast, there is no clearer indication that America is not finished, that her ideas and plans, her social structure and her cities have only a strictly temporary reality.

Chicago, blackened by its smoke, clouded by the Lake Michigan fog , is a dark and gloomy red. Pittsburgh is more gloomy still. And there is nothing more immediately striking than the contrast between the formidable power, the inexhaustible abundance of what is called the 'American Colossus ' and the puny insignificance of those li ttle houses that line the widest roads in the world . But on second thought, there is no clearer indication that America is not fini shed, that her ideas and plans, her social structure and her cities have only a strict ly temporary reality. Ibid.

is not something its inhabitants are familiar with; once the American is ten blocks away from his home, he is lost.

New York and Chicago do not have neighbourhoods, but they do have a neighbourhood life; the American is not familiar with his city; once he is ten 'blocks' away from his home, he is lost. Ibid.

's most striking aspect is the vertical disorder.

The most striking aspect of the American city is the vertical disorder. Ibid.

is a place where the post office looks like the Parthenon, the home of the town's richest citizen is a replica of Blenheim Palace, and everybody else lives like a Texas rancher.

An American city is a place where the post office looks like the Parthenon, the home of the town's richest citizen is a replica of Blenheim Palace, and everybody else lives like a Texas rancher . Life, December 24, 1965

is always in the process of becoming - Americans have not so much built their cities and their noncities as assembled them from do-it-yourself kits.

American city life has never stood still for more than a nanosecond. It is always in the process of becoming. ff the past has little inOuence, the future is thereby closer. Americans have not so much built the ir cities and their noncities as assembled them from do - it - yourself kits. Ibid.

is built in such a way where a road originally served as a kind of spinal column to the town, splitting it, with streets marked out like vertebrae, perpendicular to it.

I came to understand that the American city was, origina ll y, a camp in the desert. People l'rom far away, attracted by a mine, a petroleum field or ferti le land, arrived one l'ine day and settled as quickly as possible in a clearing, near a river. They built the vital parts or the town, the ba nk, the town hall, the church, and then hundreds of one - storey frame houses. The road, if' there was one, served as a kind of sp ina l column to the town and then streets were marked out like vertebrae , perpendicular to the road. l_t would be hard to count the American cities that have tha t kind of parting in the middle. Ibid.

is very pretty; just don't drink the water and don't breathe the air.

If you visit American city I You will find it very pretty. I Just two things of which you must beware: I Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air. I Pollution

is a future. For Europeans, a city is, above all, a past.

For [Europeans] a city is, above all , a past; to [Americans] it is mainly a future ; what they like in the city is everything it has not yet become and everything it can be. Ibid.

american city, n.All

american city