The American Dream Paved in Asphalt: How the Highway System Transformed the Landscape, Economy, and Mindset of the United States

America is a country you cannot truly understand without leaving the city behind. Skyscrapers, downtowns, and tourist postcards only provide a surface-level view. The real America begins where the city sidewalk ends and the road stretches straight to the horizon. Here, roads are not just a way to get from point A to point B. They have become a cultural phenomenon, an economic instrument, and even a philosophy of life.

In the U.S., the road has always been a promise. A promise of a new job, a better life, freedom of choice, and movement. People left poverty behind and returned with hope along these roads. They crossed the continent, changed states, lives, and social roles. The history of the country is written not only in state capitals or on the main squares of megacities, but along highways — dusty, straight, sometimes endlessly monotonous, yet always leading somewhere further.

Route 66, endless interstates, motels with blinking neon signs, roadside diners offering unlimited coffee, and the feeling of freedom on the move — all of this is not mere decoration or romanticized scenery. It is the foundation of the American way of life, shaped over decades. Roads in the U.S. became places for work and leisure, trade and meetings, chance encounters, and life-changing decisions.

At a certain point, highways stopped being secondary to cities. They began to determine where new neighborhoods, shopping zones, and entire towns would appear. People started living not "in the city," but "by the highway exit." Businesses oriented themselves not around the city center, but around the flow of cars. Tourism shifted its focus from attractions to the route itself.

That is how roads in America became more important than cities. Not formally, not on paper — but in real, everyday life. And to truly understand the U.S., one must look not at a map of megacities, but at the network of highways that united the country and made movement more important than the destination.

Before Asphalt and Highways: America of Rivers, Railroads, and Distance

In the first decades of its existence, the United States was not a "country of roads" — quite the opposite. It was a land of water and rails, where development was guided not by the ease of travel, but by the ability to move goods. America grew not as a unified territory, but as a mosaic of regions, loosely connected and operating under different rules.

• The East Coast developed around ports. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore — these cities looked not inland, but to the ocean. Their economies depended on shipping, trade with Europe, and colonial exchange. Roads mattered little: everything important arrived by water and was then distributed locally.
• The Midwest developed differently. Here, the main arteries were rivers — primarily the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri. Grain, meat, timber, and raw materials were floated down them. Cities sprang up along the banks as transfer points, not as cultural or administrative centers. If a city was off the navigable river, its chances for growth were minimal. The river literally determined the fate of a settlement.
• The West remained for a long time almost cut off from the rest of the country. Reaching California, Oregon, and Nevada could take weeks or months — across mountains, deserts, and dangerous territories. Migration occurred in waves, in caravans, along seasonal trails. It was not mobility, but an expedition requiring preparation and risk. There was no question of free movement.
• By the mid-19th century, the situation was partially changed by railroads. Rails connected industrial centers, allowed goods and people to move faster, and gave a boost to the development of cities away from rivers. Yet here too, the logic was clear: railroads were built not for the convenience of people, but for economic purposes. Routes were laid where it was profitable for the line owners, not necessarily where people wanted to travel.

Roads in the conventional sense remained secondary for a long time. Most were dirt paths, washed away by rain, impassable in winter, and dusty in summer. Travel over land was slow, exhausting, and dangerous. Horses, wagons, and stagecoaches limited both distance and speed. Moving between cities required time, money, and endurance.

Until the 20th century, America was a country of "points," not lines. Cities existed on their own, regions lived in isolation, and the space between them was perceived as empty, merely to be crossed. No one could have predicted that the automobile and a network of roads would transform this fragmented territory into a unified space, where the journey would become more important than the destination, and movement itself would become part of the national character.

The Machine That Changed a Nation: The Automobile as a Social Revolution

The beginning of the 20th century marked a turning point for the United States. America was already large, ambitious, and rapidly growing, but it remained inconvenient for life across distances. Railroads connected industrial centers, rivers fed trade, yet between them lay miles of hard-to-reach terrain.

The automobile arrived at a moment when the country was ready for it — and when it was needed most.

1. 01. Ford Model T and the End of Elite Transportation
   The automobile existed before, but until 1908 it remained a luxury item. Everything changed with the introduction of the Ford Model T and assembly line production. In practice, this meant:

• The price of a car became affordable for the average American;
• Farmers, workers, and small business owners could now own a car;
• The automobile ceased to be a status symbol and became a working tool.
  Ford wasn’t just selling transportation — he was selling a new way of life, where distance was no longer an obstacle.

1. 02. Freedom That Never Existed Before
   The automobile gave Americans what neither trains nor ships could provide:

• Independence from schedules — no more adjusting to departure times;
• Freedom of route — you could turn off, stop, or change plans on the fly;
• Mobility without infrastructure constraints, whether there was a station or a port nearby.
  For the first time, people could decide for themselves when, where, and why to travel.

1. 03. Life Beyond the City
   One of the most noticeable consequences of motorization was people moving outside cities. The automobile made possible what had once seemed unthinkable:

• Living in a quiet neighborhood while working in another city;
• Having a house with a yard instead of an apartment near a factory;
• Separating living space from work space.
  This is how future suburbs began to form — even before the advent of highways. The city was no longer the mandatory center of life.

1. 04. America Began Measuring Distance Differently
   Before the car, distances were seen as a problem. Afterward, as a challenge. America began thinking in terms of:

• "This can be driven in a day";
• "It’s convenient to get there over the weekend";
• "It’s far, but there are stops along the way."
  Distance was no longer intimidating. It became part of the plan.

1. 05. The Economy Moved with the People
   The automobile quickly gave rise to business. Gas stations, repair shops, roadside cafes and stores, and the first motels began to appear. The economy no longer concentrated solely in city centers. It began to spread along routes, wherever people were traveling.
2. 06. Not Just Technology, but a New Philosophy
   It is important to understand that the automobile in the U.S. became more than just a means of transportation. It became part of the national character. It reinforced individualism, the value of personal choice, and a culture of movement and journey. America ceased to be a country of stops and transfers. It became a country of roads.

Route 66 — America’s Main Road That Became a Legend

Route 66 is rarely called just a highway. It is known as the "Mother Road," "the road of hope," "the road to a new life". It was neither the longest nor the most modern road, and over time it lost its practical significance. But it was the first road that taught America to live along a route, not just in cities.

1. 01.  The Birth of a Legend: A Road That Connected a Continent
   In 1926, Route 66 appeared on the U.S. map — the first truly transcontinental highway, linking the industrial East with the sunny West. The route started in Chicago and ended in Los Angeles, crossing eight states and thousands of kilometers of varied landscapes — from farming plains to deserts and mountains. Route 66 was a new type of road:

• It was designed specifically for automobiles, not horse-drawn wagons;
• It passed through small towns instead of bypassing them;
• It connected ordinary America, not elite neighborhoods.
  This was a road without pretension, but with enormous significance.

1. 02.  The Road of Hope During the Crisis
   Route 66 gained its symbolic weight in the 1930s, during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the Midwest. Along this road:

• Farmers left the devastated lands of Oklahoma and Kansas;
• Families traveled to California in search of work;
• Migrants carried all their possessions in a single car.
  Route 66 became more than a route — it was a last chance. Its image became forever ingrained in American culture as a path out of poverty — not always to success, but to hope. It’s no coincidence that John Steinbeck immortalized this road, calling it the "Mother Road."

1. 03.  Tourists Without Postcards and Gloss
   After World War II, Route 66 changed its role. America had grown wealthier, the automobile became part of every family, and road trips became a form of leisure. Families traveled along Route 66 for vacations, young people sought adventure, and those who wanted to see the country not through a showcase, but from the car window.
   It was the first mass experience of "unplanned" travel. Without guides, timetables, or mandatory stops. The road itself became the journey.
2. 04.  The Economy Along the Asphalt: How Route 66 Fed the Country
   A whole roadside civilization grew along Route 66, later becoming the standard for all American highways. Here appeared:

• Motels where you could park right next to your room;
• Gas stations combined with cafes and shops;
• Diners open 24/7;
• Roadside attractions created just to get drivers to stop.
  Business no longer depended on the city center. The only requirement was to be located along the road.

1. 05.  Small Towns That Lived by the Highway
   Route 66 gave hundreds of small towns a chance.
   To survive, they didn’t need to become metropolises. A convenient turnoff, a clear sign, honest service — that was enough. Many of these towns existed solely because of the flow of cars. Cafes, gas stations, workshops, motels — everything revolved around the road.

When the interstate highways appeared in the 1950s–60s, Route 66 began to lose its significance. New highways bypassed towns, shortened travel time, and left little room for spontaneous stops.

For Route 66, this meant a decline. For America, it was the loss of part of the soul of the road. But the myth remained. Today, Route 66 is no longer just a route — it is a symbol. A symbol of freedom, movement, and the America that lived between the cities.

Not Forever, Just for the Night: Motels and Diners as the Architecture of Motion

America invented its own architecture on the road — not ceremonial or permanent, but utilitarian and honest. This was the architecture of the journey, not of the place. No one built for eternity or thought about facades for future generations. The main goal was to be easily noticed, quickly received, and just as easily sent on.

Motels and diners became spaces of temporary presence — and that was their strength.

1. 01. Motel: A Home for One Night
   The motel did not appear as a type of hotel, but as a solution to the specific needs of motorists. A person on the road didn’t need a lobby, bellhop, or elevator. What they needed was: a quick exit from the highway, parking by the door, a night’s rest without questions, and the ability to continue in the morning. Hence the characteristic features of a motel:

• Neon signs visible from hundreds of meters and readable at speed;
• Simple linear layout with each room having a separate entrance;
• Parking integrated into the building, not as a separate lot;
• Minimal formalities — no waiting, minimal interaction, maximum convenience.
  The motel didn’t pretend to be a home. It honestly said: you are here only briefly.

1. 02. Architecture Designed for Cars
   Motels were not built for pedestrians or for aesthetics from a square. They were designed for the person behind the wheel. This meant: signs were more important than facades, driveways more important than interiors, convenience more important than beauty.
   If a building was too fancy, it wasn’t working well. In road architecture, everything unnecessary was eliminated immediately.
2. 03. Diners: Food That Doesn’t Ask Questions
   If the motel was a place to sleep, the diner became a place to stop and talk. These were cafes without pretense, where everyone was equal — truckers, tourists, farmers, students. A classic diner offered simple things:

• Food that required no decoding;
• Coffee that was refilled without asking;
• An interior that didn’t distract from conversation.
  No one asked who you were or where you came from. The only question was: "Coffee?"

1. 04. Space for Chance Encounters
   Diners became rare places of social closeness in a vast country. People who would never meet in ordinary life found themselves together at the same counter. Here:

• They talked with strangers;
• They shared news and travel routes;
• They learned local stories and rumors.
  The road separated, the diner — for a short time — connected.

Over time, motels and diners lost their mass significance. They were replaced by chain hotels and fast food. But these simple spaces remain firmly embedded in the American cultural code. They promised no more than they could deliver, accepted anyone, and existed for the road, not against it. Motels and diners are not nostalgia for the past. They are a reminder of the America where the journey mattered more than status, and a stop was part of the trip.

Asphalt as Politics: How the Government Reshaped America with Highways

By the mid-20th century, the automobile had fully become a part of American life. Yet the country still lacked one thing — a unified, logical, and fast road system. Old routes like Route 66 were alive, but slow. They passed through towns, twisted along the terrain, depended on local infrastructure, and were not suited for a new, accelerating America.

The solution came from the top — and it changed the country more than its creators could imagine.

1. 01.  A Project of National Scale
   In 1956, the Interstate Highway System was launched — the largest infrastructure project in U.S. history. Its initiator was President Dwight Eisenhower, who had seen German autobahns in World War II and realized the role roads could play in national security and the economy. The official goals of the project were framed as highly rational:

• Military mobility
  Rapid movement of troops and equipment across the country.
• City evacuation
  In case of emergencies or war.
• Economic integration
  Connecting regions into a unified economic space.
  But these statements hid something bigger. For the first time, the government wasn’t just improving roads — it was rewriting the map of the country.

1. 02. Speed as a New Value
   Interstate highways were designed with one main idea — to move fast and without stops. This meant:

• Minimal traffic lights;
• No at-grade intersections;
• Straight routes avoiding towns;
• Convenient ramps and interchanges.
  For the first time, the road became a space where the city was an obstacle, not a goal.

1. 03.  Cities Left Aside
   To ensure speed, new highways began bypassing historic downtowns. This decision proved to be fateful. It led to:

• Old downtowns losing the flow of people and money;
• Businesses relocating closer to the highways;
• Many neighborhoods falling into decline.
  The city stopped being a necessary waypoint. It could be bypassed.

1. 04.  Birth of Suburban America
   Interstate highways made possible what ultimately changed the lifestyle of millions — mass migration to suburbs. The new geography of life looked like this:

• Home — in a quiet neighborhood outside the city;
• Work — tens of miles away;
• Shopping — at the highway exit;
• Entertainment — wherever parking was convenient.
  Without a car, this model was impossible. With the interstate, it became the norm.

1. 05.  Economy at the Exit
   Alongside the highways, a new type of commercial space emerged — retail zones by the exits. Here appeared shopping centers, chain hotels, fast-food restaurants, office parks. What they had in common: they were designed for the car, not for pedestrians. Convenient access became more important than architecture or the history of the place.
2. 06.  The Cost of Speed
   The Interstate Highway System brought growth, convenience, and scale. But it had a downside. Many cities lost their identity, small businesses disappeared, and neighborhoods were divided by highways. Where streets and blocks once existed, overpasses and interchanges appeared. Life became faster, but less connected.

Interstate highways demonstrated that a road is not just infrastructure. It is a tool of politics, economy, and social engineering.

The government set the pace of movement, and with it — the pace of life. From that moment, America definitively became a country where the journey mattered more than the center, and speed mattered more than the square.

The Logic of American Roads: Why They Are the Way They Are

American roads look different from those in Europe or Asia. They are wide, straight, and seem endless. Exits are often placed far from city centers, and highway numbering follows a strict logic. Behind this seemingly “simple” appearance lies carefully considered engineering and social thinking that shaped the country in the 20th century.

1. 01. Why There Are So Many Straight Roads in the U.S.
   Looking at a map, especially of flat states like Nebraska or Kansas, it’s almost impossible not to notice something remarkable: roads stretch for tens of kilometers in a straight line. The reasons are simple yet profound:

• Natural geography
  Central America consists of flat plains, where there’s no need to bend around mountains, rivers, or forests. Building a straight road is easier, cheaper, and faster.
• Economic logic
  The straighter the road, the less material is needed, the less time construction takes, and the less fuel is spent transporting goods.
• Psychology and driving culture
  Americans value speed and the ability to see far ahead. A straight road symbolizes freedom and control over space.
  In Nebraska, there are highway sections over 30 km long with no visible curve. For travelers, this sense of “emptiness and infinity” became part of the national myth.

1. 02. Where Highway Numbering Comes From
   American interstate highways and old routes like Route 66 are not labeled with random numbers. The numbering follows a clear logic:

• Main highways (for example, I‑5, I‑80) have single-digit or round numbers.
• North–South routes are assigned odd numbers (I‑5 along the West Coast), East–West routes get even numbers (I‑80 across the country).
• Auxiliary exits and loop routes get three-digit numbers, where the last two digits indicate the primary highway they branch from.
  This system helps not only with navigation but also with logistics, business planning, and travel. Each number gives a clue about where the road is and where it leads.

1. 03. Why Exits Are Placed Far from City Centers
   When driving on an interstate, you’ll notice that exits often bypass historic downtowns and older neighborhoods. This is not by chance — it was designed for safety and speed:

• Minimizing traffic congestion
  Entering the city center would slow down the flow on the highway.
• Maintaining travel speed
  The highway was created as a high-speed route with no traffic lights or at-grade intersections.
• Controlling urban development
  New commercial zones and gas stations were built near exits, stimulating the economy where it was convenient for cars, not pedestrians.
  The result: cities “grew around” highways, while downtowns partially lost transit flow, affecting urban structure and economy.

These three elements make American roads unique and suited to a country where distances are measured in hundreds of kilometers. They simultaneously:

• Provide speed and safety;
• Shape the geographical logic of life;
• Create a symbol of freedom of movement, deeply embedded in culture and art.

An American road is not just asphalt. It is an engineering philosophy, a social strategy, and part of the national character.

Suburbs: How Highways Redrew the Map of American Life

The rise of highways and the mass automobile didn’t just change transportation — it changed the very concept of home, city, and route. Where life once revolved around the city center, everything now formed around the road. This is how suburbs — suburban neighborhoods that are unimaginable without cars — came into being.

America became a country of paths, not just points on a map.

1. 01. Home Far from Work: A New Logic of Life
   Previously, city dwellers were geographically tied to their jobs: factories, offices, or shops were within walking distance. After the advent of highways, the situation changed dramatically:

• Homes were located in quiet neighborhoods, with green streets, lawns, and individual houses.
• Workplaces could be tens of kilometers away, but accessible by car.
• Schools and shops relocated closer to highways rather than to the city center.
• Free time became structured around the route: family trips, shopping, recreation — all measured in kilometers and travel time.
  The American day was no longer concentrated in one place. It stretched across territory, anchored to the highway network.

1. 02. Highways as Connective Tissue
   Suburbs are not just homes. They are a system of spatial dependencies that would not exist without high-speed roads:

• Exits and intersections became natural hubs for shops and services;
• Office complexes were built near highways, not city squares;
• Gas stations, diners, and motels appeared along daily routes.
  The road ceased to be merely a means of transportation. It organized urban and economic structure, shaping areas of living, work, and recreation.

1. 03. The Road Trip as Part of Everyday Culture
   For Americans, suburban life is automatically tied to the car. Even leisure and entertainment became part of route logic:

• Weekend family trips became mini road trips;
• Grocery shopping involved a route through several exits;
• Evening leisure followed a path to a park or café located by the highway.
  Travel ceased to be a rare event. It became part of daily life, built into the kilometers driven every day.

1. 04. The City as a Point on the Route
   Previously, the city was the center of the world, the destination for residents and businesses. Now it became just one point on a route:

• Downtown no longer dictated the flow of people and money;
• Neighborhoods and suburbs dictated travel routes;
• The rhythm of life was set by highways, not squares or stations.
  In this way, highways created a new geography of life: open, stretched out, and mobility-oriented, where distance ceased to be an obstacle.

Road Trip: The American Highway as Part of Culture

In the U.S., road travel has long ceased to be merely a way to get from point A to point B. It has become a cultural code, a symbol of freedom, and a way to experience the country firsthand. Road trips are not a tourist format with guided plans and checklists of attractions; they are a life practice embedded in the American character.

Almost every American has taken a trip at least once in their life without a strict plan, trusting the road and the sense of space.

1. 01. A Symbol of Freedom and Independence

• The automobile in America has always been a tool of freedom. The road trip is the culmination of this idea:
• Personal choice: you decide when to go, where to stop, and what sights to see;
• No restrictions: no train schedules, tickets, or tour guides;
• Distance as a value: miles of road are seen not as obstacles but as experience and part of the journey.
  For Americans, the road is not a problem — it is freedom in motion.

1. 02. Erasing Social Boundaries
   During a road trip, familiar boundaries disappear:

• Truck drivers, farmers, students, and tourists can all sit at the same diner counter;
• Motels welcome anyone, regardless of social status;
• The road turns “strangers” into fellow travelers, creating a temporary community.
  In this way, road trips form a unique social space where only people and the journey matter, not social or economic differences.

1. 03. The Chance to See the “Real” America
   Traveling the roads, Americans discover the country without tourist filters:

• Small towns that aren’t in guidebooks;
• Diners and motels that exist solely for the road;
• Nature that sometimes replaces asphalt and concrete.
  Road trips turn geography into a story and the route into a narrative about culture, habits, and lifestyle.

1. 04. Film, Music, and Literature Cemented the Image
   The idea of the road became a powerful cultural symbol through art:

• John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath depicted migration along Route 66 as a journey of hope;
• Films about endless highways portray loneliness, freedom, and the journey as a metaphor for life;
• Music about the road — from country to rock ’n’ roll — celebrates it as a place of discovery.
  Thus, road travel became part of the national imagination, linking the road to identity.

In the 21st century, road trips remain popular not only among tourists but also among Americans:

• Weekend family trips;
• Traveling with friends along coasts or across states;
• Attending festivals, sports events, and concerts accessible only by car.

For many, it is a rite of passage, a way to explore the world and themselves within it. The road remains a connecting element between past and present, between cities and suburbs, and between culture and everyday life.

American Roads Beyond the Cities: What’s Truly Worth Seeing

When people think of the U.S., they usually picture New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. But the real America lives outside the cities, on roads that stretch across plains, deserts, and hills, connecting small settlements and forgotten stations. For those behind the wheel who want to truly feel the country, the key to the experience lies in stops that aren’t found in tourist guides.

1. 01.Old Sections of Route 66: the Spirit of the "Mother Road"
   Route 66 is gradually disappearing from modern GPS maps, but its historic segments remain the heart of road travel. What makes them particularly special:

• Winding sections with asphalt from the 1920s–30s;
• Bridges and crossings built as part of the original engineering network;
• Villages and farmhouses that have witnessed flows of migrants and tourists for decades.
  On these stretches, you can feel the true atmosphere of 20th-century travel, when the road itself was the main character of the story, not just a path to a destination.

1. 02.Small Motels with History
   Far from big cities, motels are more than a place to sleep — they are living museums. They preserve mid-20th-century design, neon signs, and atmosphere. Features of such places:

• Compact rooms with everything in original style;
• Parking right at the door, allowing a close connection to the road;
• Neon signs visible from afar that come alive in the evening, creating a retro feel.
  Stopping here lets you literally touch the history of road travel and feel how millions once lived the road.

1. 03.Diners Running for Decades
   If motels provide rest, diners offer life for an hour. Off the beaten path, you can find establishments operating for 40–60 years, where almost nothing has changed:

• The menu is minimalist and straightforward — eggs, burgers, coffee;
• Counter seats and booths look like they did in the 1950s;
• Visitors — truckers, locals, tourists — each here for a moment, yet all equal.
  Here, the culture of road interaction is recreated: conversations with strangers, route exchanges, travel tips.

1. 04.Roadside Attractions: Little Wonders Along the Way
   Outside the cities, the road is full of surprises — roadside attractions that are not kitsch and do not mimic theme parks:

• Historic landmarks related to Route 66 or local events;
• Natural sites easily accessible from the highway;
• Mini-museums and collections created by enthusiasts right on the roadside;
• Workshops and blacksmiths operating for decades, preserving old techniques.
  Their value lies in authenticity and history, not in “photogenic fakery.” These are places where the road becomes a cultural and educational expedition.

Road travel outside the cities allows you to understand the real America, the one that doesn’t fit into postcards or guidebooks.

• Old highways show the historical route;
• Motels and diners demonstrate a life built around the road;
• Roadside attractions provide a sense of local identity.

It is here that a person begins to feel the soul of the country through the road, through miles of asphalt, and through small signs and stories along the way.

When the Road Killed the Town: The Dark Side of American Highways

American roads are symbols of freedom, movement, and progress. But every coin has two sides. When the Interstate highways began to be built in the 1950s–60s, some old towns were literally forgotten. Where life once thrived, the flow of people and money dried up. In place of once-prosperous settlements, ghost towns began to appear.

1. 01.Loss of transit flow: the town left aside
   Old highways like Route 66 passed through city centers. Every café, gas station, and store depended on the flow of cars. When new highways began bypassing towns:

• Traffic dropped sharply;
• Tourists and truckers no longer entered the downtown;
• Roads that once fueled the local economy turned into empty streets.
  Before our eyes, the life built around the road disappeared.

1. 02.Closure of motels, diners, and services
   With the disappearance of transit flow, familiar infrastructure — motels, diners, gas stations — lost their clients.

• Small motels, designed for passing travelers, closed or fell into ruin;
• Diners lost regular customers and sometimes shut down permanently;
• Gas stations lost revenue, and their owners either left or went out of business.
  What was once the road economy ceased to exist, and the buildings slowly decayed.

1. 03.Population outflow: people moved for jobs
   Without jobs and customers, towns lost residents, especially the young.

• Families moved to suburbs or new towns near the highways;
• Small businesses closed, and houses stood empty;
• Schools and hospitals lost funding due to declining population.
  Thus, settlements appeared that now exist only on old maps and photographs.

1. 04.Ghost towns: living monuments of history
   Today, many of these towns are open-air urban museums. Their value for travelers is immense:

• They show how the economy and life depended on the road;
• Allow visitors to see history at the scale of streets and buildings;
• Create an atmosphere impossible to reproduce in new, highway-built areas.
  Interesting fact: some old motels and diners are restored by enthusiasts, turned into museums and retro cafés to preserve the memory of Route 66 and road culture.

The story of ghost towns reminds us that the road is a powerful tool that can create life or destroy it.

• Highway and exit plans determine the economic future of settlements;
• Too rapid progress sometimes destroys old centers;
• Today, many try to revive these places through tourism and preservation of historical infrastructure.

America clearly shows: the road can be a source of freedom, but for towns it is a two-faced force.

The Road Is More Important Than the City: What a Tourist Sees Between Destinations

When tourists plan a trip across the U.S., the usual logic says: “the main thing is the city attractions.” But in reality, the true America lives between destinations — on the roads that connect cities, deserts, plains, and coastlines. It is here that the scale, diversity, and character of the country are revealed.

Traveling on American roads is not just a way to get from point A to point B — it is an experience that cannot be gained while staying in megacities.

1. 01.Diversity of landscapes along a single route
   The U.S. is a continental country, where in just a few hundred kilometers you can see drastically different natural environments:

• From the flat plains of the Midwest to the rolling landscapes of the Appalachians;
• From the sandy deserts of Arizona to the green forests of New Hampshire;
• Rivers, lakes, and canyons passing right by your car window.
  A traveler on the road feels the contrast, senses regional transitions, and understands the country’s scale. On foot or by public transport, this perception is lost.

1. 02.Sense of scale and freedom
   American roads are designed so that distances become part of the experience:

• Miles of asphalt create a feeling of infinity;
• Horizons open wider than in city streets;
• The sense of “movement” allows you to perceive the country’s geography in real time.
  The car turns travel into a ritual of measuring the country, where every exit, gas station, and diner marks progress along the way.

1. 03.Regional character revealed through the road
   Traveling by road, a tourist sees the unofficial culture of regions:

• Diners with local recipes and interiors that tell the story of the place;
• Small motels and farmers’ markets reflecting local economy and traditions;
• Roadside attractions created by local residents, not travel agencies.
  Through such elements, one can understand how a state differs from another, a town from a town, and what “living between roads” means to Americans.

1. 04.Cities can be compared, roads cannot
   Cities have centers, museums, squares — easy to photograph and compare.

• Roads are dynamic and ever-changing; every mile is unique: a traffic jam at one exit, a landscape in another state, a random stop at a diner halfway along the route.
• Therefore, for a traveler, the road is more important than the city. It is a living open-air museum that cannot be seen from a hotel window or a bus tour.

To truly understand the U.S., one needs to drive, observe, and experience:

• The road teaches freedom of choice, where every route tells a story.
• It shows how the country’s scale affects people’s lives.
• It reveals regional differences through simple elements: motels, diners, gas stations, and roadside attractions.

America between destinations is a land of open horizons, and only on the road does a traveler get the full experience that makes a trip unforgettable.

American Highways: How Roads Became More Important Than Cities

The U.S. Interstate Highway System is more than just roads. It is a complex and contradictory legacy that has shaped modern America. Its construction, begun with grand ambitions, led to one of the largest social and urban transformations in the country’s history. Rather than simply connecting cities, the highways began reshaping them, often destroying the vital fabric of urban communities along the way. This is the story of how infrastructure built for people became more important than the cities and their residents.

1. 01. A tool for “renewal”
   Highway construction often coincided with federal “urban renewal” programs. In practice, this meant demolishing neighborhoods considered “slums.” Authorities saw highways as a convenient tool to “cleanse” such areas, while the brunt of these actions was borne by communities of color.
2. 02. Constructing segregation
   Highways became powerful physical barriers that reinforced racial divides. In Atlanta, for example, I‑20 was designed as a clear boundary between Black and white neighborhoods. In other cities, highways encircled African-American districts, isolating them from the rest of the city.
3. 03. Cultural capitals erased from the map
   The thriving African-American neighborhood of Overtown in Miami, known as the “Harlem of the South”, lost 87 acres of buildings due to the construction of I‑95. Its population dropped from 40,000 to 8,000 residents.
4. 04. Impressive scale
   The total length of all roads in the U.S. is about 6.5 million kilometers — the largest in the world, roughly 10% of all roads on the planet. The Interstate Highway System itself stretches over 78,000 km.
5. 05. Construction magnitude
   The original construction of the Interstate System, officially completed in 1992, cost about $114 billion at the time. Adjusted for inflation, this would exceed $600 billion in 2024.
6. 06. Ongoing investment
   Even today, enormous sums are spent on maintenance and development. In 2017 alone, federal spending on road infrastructure reached $177 billion. The cost of building a new highway varies widely: from $12–13 million per kilometer in rural areas to an astonishing $44–45 million per kilometer for elevated urban sections.
7. 07. Lanes for the “right” drivers
   Many states have High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV/Carpool) lanes on busy highways, marked with a diamond symbol. Vehicles with two or more passengers may use them, encouraging carpooling and easing traffic. Fines for violations can exceed $370.
8. 08. Roads without gas stations
   Highways themselves lack gas stations, shops, or cafes. All infrastructure is available only at exits. This emphasizes the highway’s pure function — uninterrupted movement.
9. 09. Road architecture
   For safe and smooth exits, highways use curved ramps, sometimes banked like race tracks. Approaching an exit or interchange is signaled with road markings: dashed lines become shorter and more frequent, gradually turning solid.
10. 10. Record congestion
    The busiest highway in the U.S., and likely the world, is Interstate 405 (I‑405) in Los Angeles, with about 374,000 vehicles passing daily.
11. 11. Most complex interchange
    The Pregerson Interchange in Los Angeles, built in 1993, was the most expensive highway structure in the world at the time, costing $135 million. It has five levels of overpasses.
12. 12. The world’s first car-only road
    Before the Interstate era, in 1908, the Long Island Motor Parkway opened near New York. It was the first road in the world built exclusively for automobiles, with overpasses at all intersections and no horse-drawn traffic.
13. 13. “Interstates” in Alaska and Hawaii
    Alaska and Hawaii also have highways within the system, but they have special designations (e.g., A‑1 in Alaska, H‑1 in Hawaii) and do not always meet all standard criteria.
14. 14. No, planes aren’t supposed to land on them
    Contrary to a popular myth, highways were not designed as emergency airstrips. Such cases are rare exceptions.
15. 15. Launching national networks
    The emergence of highways allowed companies like McDonald’s and Walmart to become nationwide chains. Transporting goods on interstates became 17% cheaper than on regular roads.

The era when roads were considered more important than cities is coming to an end. Modern urbanism prioritizes people’s quality of life over the speed of car travel. The history of American highways is a stark lesson about the long-term consequences of infrastructure decisions made without considering social context, and a reminder that past mistakes can be corrected.

These facts show that American roads are not just engineering objects, but a complex organism with its own history, economy, logistics, and even culture. They remain a key force shaping settlement patterns, logistics, and the very way of life in the U.S.

America as Seen from a Car Window

American highways are more than asphalt and signs. They represent culture, philosophy, and a way of life that shaped the country in the 20th century and continue to influence its character today. Here, the road is not just a means to get from point A to point B. It becomes a place of experience, a space where history, economy, nature, and people reveal themselves.

That’s why a true journey across the U.S. requires a personalized route — flexible, well-thought-out, and oriented toward the road itself, not just tourist attractions. This is where American Butler comes in:

• We design routes that take into account legendary highways and hidden roads;
• We organize overnight stays in motels and hotels that capture the spirit of the journey;
• We select stops, diners, and roadside attractions so every minute on the road becomes a memorable experience;
• We take care of comfort, safety, and logistics, ensuring the road itself becomes the main part of the journey, not just a distance to cover.

With American Butler, your trip transforms into a living story of the country, where you feel the rhythm of America, its diversity, and spirit of freedom. Every mile on the highway is a story to experience and remember.

By choosing a journey with us, you see the U.S. as a traveler, not a tourist. You discover real places, real people, and the authentic culture of the road. In America, the road is the center, the city is just a point on the route, and the measure of life is not time spent in buildings, but miles lived on the road.