Even though I work in sales, I’m really an engineer. And one thing many engineers love is transportation systems.

When Robert Moses was building, he employed hundreds of engineers who loved building roads. It wasn’t just a matter of doing something people could use, or having a secure job - no, there was a deep pleasure in constructing these elegant systems that flowed into each other, moving people around at high speed. A cloverleaf interchange is a beautiful thing.

Unfortunately, highways are also destructive. We now know that each time a freeway is constructed, people start living farther from their workplaces because they can have more space for equal commute time. Soon traffic on the freeway grows until it chokes the new route, and suddenly commute times are longer and we need a new freeway yet again. Before Moses started building, most of Long Island was country homes. Today Nassau County is full of cookie cutter subdivisions and strip malls. Life out there is no better, it’s just farther.

When I visit the Bay Area, I’m constantly reminded of what a suburban wasteland the South Bay is as I drive from huge parking lot outside office complex to hotel situated between strip malls and never actually come face to face with another human being. But on my drive each day I pass the new 85-101 interchange ramps being built in Mountain View, and can’t help but think every single time how very beautiful it is.

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Tagged: induced demand, roads, silicon valley, urban design

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.