Less of a square and more like two triangles located at the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue in New York City, Times Square has been associated over the years with a series of seemingly opposite combinations: both high and low culture, glitz and grime, and exciting bright lights and seedy dark corners. The history of Times Square is a direct reflection of the history of Americans' relationship with their cities.

The origin of Times Square can be traced to the 1811 New York Commissioner of Streets and Roads' plan, which laid out the Manhattan grid above Fourteenth Street. The significance of this plan, and many others like it across the United States prior to and after 1811, is that the future growth of the American city was partitioned off and predetermined as easy-to-develop slices of land. This not only assured efficient exploitation, but also brought about a...