Ruddy’s talk looks at the impact that Route 66 had on Albuquerque’s main street, Central Avenue. We see downtown grow from before Route 66 was founded to a vibrant business district the Saturday Evening Post said had “a blazing main drag” and which the Chamber of Commerce claimed to be the brightest main street in America. But there is a downside to this growth which the iconic photograph also shows as the city today valiantly fights to find a new identity for its central business district.