As a result, the Taconic has been the subject of much praise over the years not only for its vistas but for the way it harmonizes with the surrounding landscape. Sociologist Lewis Mumford, who often criticized the effect of superhighway construction on contemporary cities, always advised friends traveling up from New York to visit him at his house in Amenia that they should take the Taconic. He described it as "a consummate work of art, fit to stand on a par with our loftiest creations". The engineers, he said, had avoided "brutal assaults against the landscape." Albany-born novelist William Kennedy, whose family frequently drove the Taconic during his childhood to visit relatives further south, called it "a postcard. It's the most beautiful road I've ever known—in all seasons." "You can drive it with confidence", said automotive writer David E. Davis. "There are no bad surprises about the way the road is engineered." Landscape architect Garret Eckbo called the Taconic "as lovely an integration of highway engineering and landscape architecture as one could hope to find". Commenting on this years later, architecture critic Matthew Gandy wrote: