Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York by Peter Derrick

Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York by Peter Derrick is a fabulous book, a must for transportation and urban planners. I presented a review of the book to the Houston Property Rights Association. Following is a bullet point summary of the book about the New York subway:
- The Dual System of Rapid Transit was of unrivaled significance for the development of New York City
- It set the pattern of growth of residential areas
- Largest and most expensive single municipal project ever built
- Subways saved New York from problems related to rapid population growth and improved quality of life (tenement houses)
- Helped developed midtown Manhattan as on of the world’s largest employment center
Personally, the book provides data showing that (unlike the popular believe) the NY subway was developed to take people away from downtown into the suburbs. Today people think that the subway created the population density found in New York and other large cities.