Mencken v. American Towns

H. L. Mencken has a funny essay in which he reflects on the ugliness of the small towns between Pittsburgh and Greensburgh, Pennsylvania. Sadly, not much has changed since he wrote the piece in 1927. Looking around these blocks on StreetView is a cautionary experience for anyone who would blame Euclidean zoning laws too much for the shortcomings of U.S. development. As a bonus, the same site also has a nice Mencken quote about what drives the antics of certain university professors— also, sadly, unchanged by the progress of a century.