Tappan Zee Bridge Essay -- Road Route Roads Essays

Tappan Zee Bridge "A symbolic span over which Westchester and Rockland Counties will move virtually overnight, twenty years into the future" When Governor Thomas F. Dewey made this pronouncement in December of 1955, it does not seem as though even he knew how true his words would be. It took till 1989 and "Field of Dreams" to coin the phrase "If you build it they will come", but someone could have very well made the same observation during the 1950s in reference to Rockland County New York. Both of these statements cannot fully impress into the minds of readers that changes that came with the opening of a single roadway. After World War II ended there was a great difference between the number of people who wanted to buy houses and the number of houses that were available. This caused an increase of house building and a change in people's way of life. Those decades marked the beginning of the baby boom and the suburbanization of society. Areas around major cities were the most influenced by such changes and Rockland County, New York, a suburb of New York City, was no different. Every spot in Rockland County lies less then fifty miles from Columbus Circle in Manhattan. This close proximity, along with the "country-like" atmosphere, attracted many people to the area. This area was not easily accessible because it was cut off from New York City by the Hudson River. The building of the Tappan Zee Bridge in 1955 became the gateway to Rockland County and its country atmosphere. Many people flocked to this area and it soon changed dramatically from a rural landscape and agricultural economy to a bustling sub urb. The changes that came with this transformation including, population growth, land usage, and infrastructure forever cha... ...e the same dream. This dream crowds the suburbs, which are supposed to be open and roomy. Instead, growth creates mini-cities; pushing the dream suburb farther and farther out, away form the city. A prospective homebuyer seeking an affordable home on more then a quarter acre, in a country setting is rarely available. Instead prospective buyers in Rockland County see the same suburban sprawl that plagues Long Island and Westchester. Because the land has become so expensive it longer is profitable to build houses for families just starting out. Instead huge houses are built on small lots to take advantage of the land. This practice has now become the norm for developments around Rockland County. Today you can no longer look at Rockland County to fulfill that dream. Instead you must now go further and further north towards Orange or Dutchess Counties to find the subur.