"Erosion of cities by automobiles... proceeds as a kind of nibbling, small
nibbles at first, but eventually hefty bites... A street is widened here,
another is straightened there, a wide avenue is converted to one way flow...
and more land goes into parking... No step in this process is, in itself,
crucial. But... it not only adds its own bit to the total change but
accelerates the process."
This passage is excerpted by Daniel Convissor from the Vintage Books December
1992 edition of Jane Jacobs' book The Death and Life of Great American
Cities. This book was originally published in 1961 under Ms Jacobs'
copyright, which was renewed in 1989.