Thursday, October 1, 2009

They Built an Interstate on Top of a River? The Jones Falls, Baltimore, Maryland

As a preview of my discussion of the Jones Falls Valley, which cuts through the center of Baltimore, I present you with one of the greatest ecological crimes in modern history. The city of Baltimore, always seeking the path of least political resistance, spotted an easy target in Mother Nature, and when the time came to build the Jones Falls Expressway, it was an easy decision to build on top of a river than crash through neighborhoods. Much of the interstate is literally one long bridge, and you can spot the bridge portions because they're not blacktopped. Here is an aerial view of Union Avenue under the Jones Falls Expressway and over the Jones Falls River, where I took these photographs.I like how crooked the photos are--very much life out of balance.

2 comments:

  1. Nothing that can't be undone....http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/world/asia/17daylight.html

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  2. I've read about that before; it's incredible isn't it? We should do that to the River Des Peres.

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A Blog detailing the beauty of St. Louis architecture and the buildup of residue-or character-that accumulates over the course of time.