“Urban Decay” confronted Americans of the 1960s and 1970s. As the economy sagged and deindustrialization hit much of the country, many Americans associated major cities with poverty and crime. In this 1973 photo, two subway riders sit amid a graffitied subway car in New York City. Erik Calonius, “Many Subway Cars in New York City Have Been Spray-Painted by Vandals” 1973. Via National Archives (8464439).