A very interesting book about the creation and construction of the metro. I am chock full of metro related trivia (for better or for worse.)

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Product Description

Drivers in the nation's capital face a host of hazards: high-speed traffic circles, presidential motorcades, jaywalking tourists, and bewildering signs that send unsuspecting motorists from the Lincoln Memorial into suburban Virginia in less than two minutes. And parking? Don't bet on it unless you're in the fast lane of the Capital Beltway during rush hour.

Little wonder, then, that so many residents and visitors rely on the Washington Metro, the 106-mile rapid transit system that serves the District of Columbia and its inner suburbs. In the first comprehensive history of the Metro, Zachary M. Schrag tells the story of the Great Society Subway from its earliest rumblings to the present day, from Arlington to College Park, Eisenhower to Marion Barry.

Unlike the pre--World War II rail systems of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, the Metro was built at a time when most American families already owned cars, and when most American cities had dedicated themselves to freeways, not subways. Why did the nation's capital take a different path? What were the consequences of that decision?

Using extensive archival research as well as oral history, Schrag argues that the Metro can be understood only in the political context from which it was born: the Great Society liberalism of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. The Metro emerged from a period when Americans believed in public investments suited to the grandeur and dignity of the world's richest nation. The Metro was built not merely to move commuters, but in the words of Lyndon Johnson, to create "a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community."

Schrag scrutinizes the project from its earliest days, including general planning, routes, station architecture, funding decisions, land-use impacts, and the behavior of Metro riders. The story of the Great Society Subway sheds light on the development of metropolitan Washington, postwar urban policy, and the promises and limits of rail transit in American cities.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #341256 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 376 pages

Review

"Extensively researched, cleverly structured, and finely written, this book stands out for the way it provides an integral, comprehensive account of a key urban service." -- Georg Leidenberger, American Historical Review

"In this superbly-written book, Zachary Schrag,... explains how this achievement came about and what its impact is." -- Technology and Culture

"The author makes us privy to the thinking that went into the system's design." -- Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World

"Schrag does a thorough job with his subject." -- Rachel DiCarlo, Washington Times

"A timely look at how the Metro got where it is today." -- Civil Engineering

"It's a fascinating look at a modern transit triumph." -- Trains

"A graceful, fact-packed history of the genesis, development, and current state of the Washington Metro system." -- H-DC

"The Great Society Subway is a great book for students of contemporary transit history." -- Alexander D. Mitchell, Railfan and Railroad

"An excellent book... a welcome and readable addition to the literature of how we construct the societies we inhabit." -- Alex Marshall, Regional Plan Association Spotlight

"An exhaustively researched, engagingly written study of the planning, designing, building, and operating of the Washington Metro." -- Sy Adler, Journal of American History

"Beginning with the history of Washington, DC, and the influences that shaped it, Schrag presents one of the clearest explanations I have ever read on these complex processes... a love story by an historian for his city and its people." -- William W. Millar, Journal of the American Planning Association

"A masterful work of urban policy history, The Great Society Subway tells the inside story, from idea to reality, of the development of the Washington Metro from the perspectives of all the key players. There's nothing like it available." -- Carl Abbott, Portland State University

"Most readers of T&C will find The Great Society Subway a joy to read." -- Gregory L. Thompson, Technology and Culture

"A masterful new book... Schrag's The Great Society Subway gives an eloquent and hopeful explanation of how this marvelous system came to be, and backs it up with an enormous amount of evidence and keen historical perspective." -- Washington History

"A meticulously researched account." -- Phil Hervey, Urban Land

"Schrag has written a valuable study of the role of infrastructure in shaping the modern, urban world, and he aptly shows both the possibiities and limitations of major public investments... insights especially illuminating." -- J. Lawrence Lee, CRM: Journal of Heritage Stewardship

"A welcome and readable addition to the literature of how we construct the societies we inhabit." -- Alex Marshall, Hartford Courant

"Without question high drama... I strongly recommend that you put down the latest Baldacci mystery and ready this very well written, comprehensive, and entertaining book... one terrific book that belongs on lots of shelves, from planners to historians to rail buffs to politicians." -- Konrad J. Perlman, Journal of Planning Literature

"A remarkable book. It has drama, it has pathos, it has passion, it has literary grace." -- Bob Post, Journal of Transport History

"In clear and engaging prose, Schrag interweaves facts with a wide range of pragmatic, political, and aesthetic matters with discussions of those who posed and resolved the issues." -- Pamela Scott, Journal of Social History

"In clear and engaging prose, Schrag interweaves facts with a wide range of pragmatic, political, and aesthetic matters with discussions of those who posed and resolved the issues." -- Pamela Scott, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians

About the Author

Zachary M. Schrag is an assistant professor of history at George Mason University.

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Customer Reviews

A Toughtful History
The author obviously spent a great deal of time doing research in preparation for writing this volume. It not only covers the history of the capitol's subway system, but the social and economic factors leading up to its construction. A very throught provoking history of a unique transportation system.

An Interesting But Laborious Read
As evidenced by the numerous references, the author has been quite thorough in his research. However, the amount of detail bogs down the story, and it is quite easy to lose the greater picture. It would have served the story better to footnote most of the names and organizations. Of special note, however, are the drawings and photos from the period.

Overall, this book is a good complement to others regarding the history of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, such as "The Pentagon: A History", "Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington D.C.", and especially, "Freedom Rising:Washington in the Civil War."

In addition to the main subject, the book touches on themes addressed in other books regarding urban development, such as the "City Beautiful" movement that was popularized after the Chicago World Expo of the 1890's, "urban planning", immiment domain, "smart growth", and the boundaries between public and private interests in influencing the development of a metropolitan area. Other books that touch on these themes include Janet Jacobs' seminal work "The Death and Life of Great American Cities", as well as "Edge City, Life on the New Frontier", which devotes a large section to the evolution of the Tysons Corner area, and even "The Levittowners", a 1961 work which takes a sociological view of families migrating to Levittown, PA, a small surburban enclave of Philadelphia that was a developed by one of the nation's largest builders at the time, akin to today's Toll Brothers, perhaps.

Lastly, if you would like to explore the idea of completely planned communities, such as Greenbelt, MD, which was a product of the New Deal era, consider reading works dating back to the Utopian movement of the late 1800s, such as Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward", and the ideas of Robert Owen, who created an experimental enclave in Scotland, and attempted to establish one in the U.S. as well.

In the end, as I read these diverse works it helped me shape my own ideas regarding the public/private balance over land use and development. It's an interesting journey that enhanced my understanding of the issues, but yet I still feel overwhelmed by magnitude of the issue. Perhaps we will indeed evolve to the types of cities imagined by Isaac Asimov in his "Foundation Series" of books.

A readable, yet involved, study
I moved to DC in 1981 and watched the colorful branches progress from hash marks to solids. There are quirks in the system; this book answered many of my questions. Particularly interesting are the failed attempts in the 1960's to carve expressways throughout the district and later, the design evolution of the glorious system to replace the road plan.