The secret lives of elevators

Attention all urban planning geeks and infrastructure fetishists: you must read this fabulous New Yorker piece about elevators by Nick Paumgarten right now. The story begins by pointing out one of the great secrets-beneath-our-noses of urban living: the modern city owes its existence not to cars or computers, but to elevators. The story will also make you cry. Might sound improbable to some of you, but those of us with a passion for bricks and mortar always knew infrastructure could do that. "