ABSTRACT

Urban Renewal Highways built following the National Highway Act of 1956 perpetuate a culture of inequity and segregation by acting as socio economic dividers in many postindustrial American cities of the Great Migration. In the Post-Great Recession Real Estate Boom communities disconnected by these highways have received little to no investment, while communities in desirable locations have faced displacement. Southwest Baltimore, Maryland embodies the former. Separated from the heart of Baltimore by Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard the neighborhood has made modest strides in recovering from urban exodus and institutional racism involved in home loans, red lining, and block busting following World War II. As cities revitalize, now is a critical point in history to improve connectivity across Urban Renewal infrastructure and provide access to improved quality of life in communities like Southwest Baltimore, while maintaining affordability and existing culture. To maintain these physical dividers in place is an endorsement of divisive urbanism and subsequent inequitable culture.