For something pretty neat (and sad), the 3C's:

 

http://iqc.ou.edu/2014/12/12/60yrsmidwest/

Thanks for that link, CDM.

 

That is a captivatingly slick website (and sad).

I love these before and after sliders! Nice find!

Cincinnati has to be the saddest.  :(

^why?

Cincinnati has to be the saddest.  :(

 

I agree. It took even more of a hit than Detroit.

 

^why?

 

The amount that was torn down. Also consider that what was torn down was of a similar character to Over-the-Rhine. As much as OTR is a treasure, imagine if it were multiple times bigger than it is. The quality and amount of what was lost is just insane.

Astounding!

As much as i know was lost in Cleveland, I was surprised to see that overall it was one of the more un-changed looking cities. Some of the others are just awful...

These don't make me sad, they make me legitimately angry.

 

I understand what was happening that resulted in these changes, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. So much history just destroyed.

 

Cincinnati would be such a different place if OTR's fabric continued all the way into the West End to the Mill Creek. What I wouldn't give to just be able to stop the highways from being built inside cities. A series of connected ring roads would have been a significantly more intelligent system.

As much as i know was lost in Cleveland, I was surprised to see that overall it was one of the more un-changed looking cities. Some of the others are just awful...

 

Cleveland's CBD survived pretty well but the east side neighborhoods would show a much more drastic change/decline.

Cincinnati has to be the saddest.  :(

 

I agree. It took even more of a hit than Detroit.

 

Cincinnati’s view seems to be a lot closer up so it looks like a bigger impact, but Detroit not only had several more freeways in and around downtown, but what you can’t see as well is that entire neighborhoods around the freeways are gone now, too. What Cincinnati lost in the West End was tragic, but luckily Cincinnati has completely avoided the mass demolitions and “urban meadows” that Detroit and St. Louis have all over the place. Queensgate isn’t the best land use, but at least there’s something more than ghost street grids and overgrown vacant lots.

If you have a PC/Mac with Google Earth (I don't think the mobile versions have this feature) there's an option that allows you to see past imagery. Look for the icon that looks like a clock with a green arrow running counterclockwise over it, and it will bring up a slider that points to different dates.

 

Cleveland's only goes back to 1994, but even in as little as 20 years there have been quite a few changes. Most depressing is the amount of houses that have been demolished in the east side neighborhoods.

HistoricAerials.com is a great site for looking at old aerial footage of cities. In many cities, the images go back to the 1920s or 30s, and they also have topo maps for older years too.

HistoricAerials.com is a great site for looking at old aerial footage of cities. In many cities, the images go back to the 1920s or 30s, and they also have topo maps for older years too.

 

One of my favorite sites! I wished it had Youngstown, though. I really want to be depressed to see how much was lost there. But one can get bummed from seeing some loss in most Ohio cities -- the west side of downtown Cincinnati, the south side of downtown Cleveland, the west side of downtown Dayton, the northeast side of Columbus, and so on. Ironically, these losses were gobbled up by highways/interchanges.

HistoricAerials.com is a great site for looking at old aerial footage of cities. In many cities, the images go back to the 1920s or 30s, and they also have topo maps for older years too.

 

One of my favorite sites! I wished it had Youngstown, though. I really want to be depressed to see how much was lost there. But one can get bummed from seeing some loss in most Ohio cities -- the west side of downtown Cincinnati, the south side of downtown Cleveland, the west side of downtown Dayton, the northeast side of Columbus, and so on. Ironically, these losses were gobbled up by highways/interchanges.

 

Even being from Y-town, I'm not familiar with what was lost and to what. I680 seems to run through an area that isn't really conducive to development and isn't all that close to downtown. Perhaps the 422 highway through downtown?

It's making the rounds on Twitter...

 

Then-and-now sliders for cities in the Midwest: http://t.co/7hMYqAhmTf http://t.co/FkKFX8jMwP