Communities across the United States successfully fought and prevented destructive highway projects from being built through their neighborhoods from the 1960s to 1970s. These grassroots movements saved historic areas like New York's SoHo, Portland's southeast neighborhoods, New Orleans' French Quarter, and Toronto's Annex district from being demolished for massive expressways.

• Jane Jacobs led opposition to the Lower Manhattan Expressway (LOMEX) that would have destroyed SoHo, Little Italy, and parts of Chinatown
• Robert Moses' 10-lane elevated highway plan would have displaced 1,900 families and closed 804 businesses
• Portland residents organized against the Mount Hood Freeway, using neighborhood maps to visualize the highway's devastating impact
• New Orleans prevented the Vieux Carré Expressway that would have cut off the French Quarter from the Mississippi River
• Historic preservation, environmental laws (NEPA), and civil rights activism were key legal tools in defeating these projects
• Toronto residents, with Jane Jacobs' help, stopped the Spadina Expressway even after construction had begun
• Successful opposition in Portland led to highway funds being redirected to build light rail instead
• These movements coincided with broader social change including civil rights, environmentalism, and counterculture activism
• Visual protest tactics included mock funerals, postcards showing highway impacts, and themed Mardi Gras floats

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