GeographyPlanning 379: Urban Growth

1

• Geography/Planning 379 Urban Growth
  Development
• Lecture 2 The Evolution of Urban Form
• Historical Urban Transportation Development
  Eras
• The Pedestrian City (16071830)
• The Omnibuses and Early Railroads
• First Innovations to Increase Mobility
  (18301860)
• 3. The Horsecar Era (18601895)
• (Cable Cars A Transitional Mode,
  1870s1900)
• 4. Streetcar Suburbs (18951949)
• 5. The Demise of the Streetcar The Great
  Transportation Conspiracy (1930s 1940s)
• 6. The Freeway Age (1950?)
• Reading
• Required Kaplan et al. TEXTBOOK, Ch. 3,
  58-7072-82 (skip Central Place Theory
  section)
• Supplementary Yeates Garner
• www.u.arizona.edu/plane/geog379.html

2
Just how rapid is recent Population Growth in
the Tucson Metropolitan Area?
By comparison, World growth rate 1.3
3
How Sprawled out is Tucson?

• Approximate City of Tucson Population Density 5
  People per Acre (3,338 People per Square Mile)
• By Comparison New York City back in 1850 136
  People per Acre
• Per Person

Tucson, 2000 91 x 91
NYC 1850 18 x 18

• In 1850, the largest city in the World was
  London
• Its density 117 People per Acre
• New York Citys approximate density today 39
  People per Acre

4
The Pedestrian City (ca. 1607-1830)

• Why begin with the year 1607?
• Structure of pre-Industrial Revolution cities in
  U.S. like in Europe
• Where were cities located what were their
  functions?
• Early manufacturing located only on waterfront or
  took place in craft shops in homes
• Simple land use map would show three zones
• I Waterfront
• II Homes of Well-to-do and public bldgs
• III General population craftshops stores

I
III
II
Harbor
5
The Pedestrian City (ca. 1607-1830)

• Riding to work too expensive until the 1860s for
  average person had to live nearby in walking
  distance
• Irony land was essentially limitless from the
  perspective of the Colonists, but people in the
  cities lived packed together.
• Nation was overwhelmingly a rural one 1790, only
  5 of the population was living in urban places
  (recall definition!)
• Why werent there more people in the cities?
• Concept of Agricultural Surplus

6
The Pedestrian City (continued)

• Land for urban growth was constrained by water
  (see sketches Philadelphia NYC)
• Rowhouses solid blocks of housing units as was
  common in Europe
• Conclusion Tremendous Population Pressure
  Need for transportation

7
Omnibus and Early Railroads First Innovations to
Increase Mobility (1830 1860)

• The Omnibus invented in France, ca. 1826
• First U.S. lines in 1830s
• Cart drawn by 2 horses
• Only carried 12 passengers
• Started many traditions of U.S. public
  transportation traveled fixed routes with
  designated stops and a flat-rate fare
• This was first real public transportationThe
  only for-hire transportation before this
• hackney coach (like horse-era taxi cab)
• prohibitively expensive except for the wealthiest

8
A 19th Century Paris Omnibus
Wikipedia (public domain photo)
9
Omnibus and Early Railroads First Innovations to
Increase Mobility (1830 1860)

• 1830s 1850s Era of the Omnibus
• 1830s 70 omnibus lines in NYC 683 lines by 1853
• Not yet mass transportation
• Fares were too high
• Inefficient to have 2 horses and a driver to
  carry 12 passengers
• Who rode omnibus lines? Not average worker
• Fares were pushed down due to competition
• 12 ½ in 1830s to 5 in 1860s
• But average laborer made

10
Omnibus and Early Railroads First Innovations to
Increase Mobility (1830 1860)

• New transportation increased social separation
• Wealthier business people could escape congested
  central areas and ride to workplace
• They did a lot of riding -- they went home for
  lunch, so 4 trips per day
• Still true today that higher income people travel
  more than lower income
• Top 20 income group accounts for 33 of travel
• Bottom 20, only 9

11
Omnibus and Early Railroads First Innovations to
Increase Mobility (1830 1860)

• We spend huge amounts on transportation
• 22 of US personal expenditures for transport
• Only 9 in Japan
• Railroads also began to be used for commuting
• Ideal of the Agrarian Existence
• Most successful in Boston, less so in
  Philadelphia and NYC

12
The Horsecar Era (1860 1895)

• Early ordinances banned the railroads as
  dangerous
• Railroads had to pull trains into stations using
  teams of horses
• This, though, led to invention of the horsecar
  railway (aka horsecar)
• Horsecars immensely successful! Huge demand
• Building costs NYC street railways
  214,000/mile all US railways 43,000 Why?
• The costs of Common Councils and Aldermen are
  included in the right-of-way costs. American
  Railway Times (ca. 1850)

13
A horsecar
Wikipedia (pubic domain photo)
14

• Many advantages of horsecar railway
  overomnibuses
• Quieter.
• How were streets paved?
• Omnibus called A perfect bedlam on wheels
• Safer
• More efficient
• Carried 40-70 passengers, used same 2 horses
• Cheaper to ride lower fares per mile
• Faster
• Longer routes possible, opening up new areas to
  live
• Expedited traffic flow
• Fewer vehicles and horses on the streets

15
Advances in Urban Transportation from 1830 to
1895 (Omnibus and Horsecar) Resulted in

• A radial, monocentric pattern of growth (with
  focus of commerce in old walking city)
• Increased mobility for upper high middle income
  groups
• Increased social separation because the poor
  and lower-income workers could not afford to
  leave the slums in the old walking city
• The emergence of specialized business and
  residential districts
• The separation of business districts into
  sections for particular functions

16
During the horsecar era

• Cities now extended 8 10 miles out from old
  pedestrian city core
• Transportation still too expensive and slow (5-8
  mph max.) for the masses to move out
• Not just the fare was unaffordable Typical work
  day 10 13 hours workers lacked the time to
  commute very far
• Tenement areas with incredibly high densities
  still increasing, despite success of horsecar
  railways

17

• What would replace the horsecars?
• Big problem with horsecars the horses!
• The Great Epizootic killed over 2,000 horses in
  Philadelphia in 3 weeks
• Tried elevating steam railways failure
• Cable cars were a transitional mode 1870s
  1900
• Key concept of cable car separate steam power
  source from vehicle
• Real break-through electrification!
• The trolley car, aka electric streetcar, the
  electric traction line to be continued

18
POP QUIZ Name________

• Put the following forms of transportation in the
  correct order of chronological adoption in
  American cities
• Electric Streetcar or Trolley Car
• Omnibus
• Automobile
• Horsecar Railway

ANSWER