"The street plan of the Valley is 'the street plan of America.' By this, he means that streets in cities across the U.S. offer rectilinear uniformity: 'broad, arrow-straight avenues, regularly spaced and perfectly parallel to one another, are met at fixed intervals by equally straight and parallel streets that intersect them at precise right angles.'"
"Rectilinear streets were not a U.S. invention, but they have become so prevalent that they 'seem like components of a single, all-encompassing urban grid stretching from New York City to Chicago to Los Angeles.' Grids are not particularly practical or utilitarian, Alexander contends, and they generated significant resistance."
"Jefferson championed the grid, which embodied 'an ideal of America as a land of unconstrained freedom and infinite opportunity.' This vision connected mathematical principles from Newton and Descartes to the physical organization of the American landscape."
The United States landscape is characterized by perpendicular streets, rectangular fields, and uniform gridded patterns visible across urban and rural areas. This gridded design emerged from intellectual influences, particularly the mathematical and philosophical work of Isaac Newton and René Descartes, which shaped Thomas Jefferson's vision for America. Jefferson promoted the grid system as a representation of American ideals—unconstrained freedom and boundless opportunity. Despite grids not being particularly practical or utilitarian, they became prevalent across American cities from New York to Los Angeles, creating a unified visual landscape. The grid's dominance eventually generated significant cultural and aesthetic resistance, sparking a backlash favoring non-gridded landscapes.
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