Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetsblog

The Whole City of Florence Could Fit Inside an Atlanta Interchange

This is the city of Florence, Italy, and an Atlanta interchange at the same scale. Image: Steve Mouzon via Treehugger
This is Florence and an Atlanta interchange at the same scale. Image: Steve Mouzon via Treehugger
false

It's incredible how much we've given up in the United States all so we can travel slightly faster by car. The above graphic, revived by Lloyd Alter at Network blog Treehugger this week from an old blog post by author Steve Mouzon, really makes you stop and think.

On the left is Florence, Italy -- a global treasure. On the right, a nameless interchange in metro Atlanta, just about the same size. Alter says:

Florence, Italy is perhaps the most wonderful place to walk that I have ever been in. In a discussion I had recently about the city, I remembered a post architect and writer Steve Mouzon did a few years ago on the true cost of sprawl. Steve wondered why cities give up so much land that supports no retail, no residential, pays no taxes, just to move people out of town on highways. He showed this extraordinary coupling of two photographs at the same scale: one of Florence, Italy, and one of an interchange in Atlanta, Georgia.

Steve notes that the entire Duomo cathedral could fit in one of the loops of the interchange. You could spend days walking the streets of Florence (I have) and find three hundred and fifty thousand residents shopping, eating, selling wonderful leather goods, going to fabulous galleries and palaces and museums. It even has a a grade separated elevated pedestrian skywalk.

Because of the need for speed, Atlanta has a great big expensive hole the size of Florence that does very little beside getting "a small fraction of Atlanta workers to their jobs a bit sooner, barring any accidents."

Elsewhere on the Network today: Miles Grant of the Green Miles blog says a motorist who injured a pedestrian in New Bedford, Massachusetts, will face no penalty for what should be considered criminal negligence. ATL Urbanist ponders the link between political ideology and people's desire to live in urban or rural locations. And Greater Greater Washington writes that Montgomery County doesn't need to stop growing -- it needs to make sure growth happens in places that are best equipped to accommodate it.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Day 1: Criminal Court Judge Issues Safety Lectures to Cyclists, Including Citi Bike Celeb

A Manhattan Judge used the bench to give "a talking to" to suspected cyclists — including one of the Citibikeboys!

DOT Proposing A 14th Street-Style Busway For 34th Street

It's the sequel you've been waiting for. Here's hoping Mayor Adams delivers, said one activist.

May 19, 2025

Sohn in Albany: State Bill to Force Drivers to Pass Safely Stalls

Apparently, New York City is just too unsafe for legislation forbidding drivers to pass cyclists too closely.

May 19, 2025

Car Harms Monday: Machines Took Over Cities and Left Humans in the Dust

There isn't enough physical space for every single household to store its fleet of personal vehicles in front of the home, nor is there space for everyone to drive at the same time. So let's fix that.

May 19, 2025

A Valuable History Lesson for Jessica Tisch: ‘The Rules of the Road’ Were Written for Cars

Hey, Commissioner, listen to this historian: When rules recognize reality, suiting the distinct needs of categorically different users, everybody wins.

May 19, 2025
See all posts