What Defines Great Cities ?

Every great city has one or more things that define it.

And one of things that defines New York is the Manhattan city street grid system which turned 200 years old two weeks ago.

In 1811 the city’s street commissioners certified the no-frills street matrix that heralded New York’s transformation into the City of Angles — the rigid 90-degree grid that spurred unprecedented development, gave birth to vehicular gridlock and defiant jaywalking, and spawned a new breed of entrepreneurs who would exponentially raise the value of Manhattan’s real estate.

There’s a really interesting article about it in The New York Times including an interactive map that allows you to compare the 1811 proposed grid to the modern day map of Manhattan. They are remarkably similar.

See you at 45^th and 6^th Avenue soon.

Francesco …