The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-22
PAVED STREETS AND PROGRESS.
Sure Way of Testing the Material
Development of an American City.

New York Sun.
There is no surer way of determining the
growth Of an American municipality in re-
Spect of material development than by COM
pairing the relation which it's paved streets
bear to it's unpaved. The civil engineer is an
important functionary in the foundation of
municipal corporations in the United States,
and especially in such of them as are in
the region west of the Alleghenies. But
street pavementS are expensive, and it is
not until city is opulent enough to en-
joy the luxury of a big municipal debt and
a large credit that the question of modern
and improved payments secures adequate
attention.
In Boston, for instance, one of the old
cities there are 312 miles of paved and l40
miles of unpaVeq streets. In Baltimore there
are 306 miles of paved and only. AZ miles
of unpaved streets. In Philadelphia there
are 942 miles of paved and 433 miles of I'M
paved streets. But in the newer cities of
the country this condition is reversed, and
Chicago, which has 1000 miles of paved,
has 1900 miles of unpaved streets In ST.
Louis the number of miles of paved streets
is $40 and of unpaved 500. In Omaha there
are 30 miles of paved streets and 45Q miles
of unpaved. In Minneapolis, a city which is
growing rapidly in population, there are So
Ies OF pdSe1 anu f T i ars 55 ies of
paved and $685. miles of unpaved streets.
The pavement of Brooklyn streets, which is
now a subject of local grievance and COM
plant, shows certain backwardness,
which it is expected the Greater New York
project will do away with by making avail
able the municipal credit necessary for the
issuance of bonds for new pavements. AT
the present time more than 260 miles of
BROOKLYN streets-more than one-half of
the whole length of paved streets-have the
primitive, unsatisfactory and unpopular
cobblestones. There are 10 miles of streets
paved with granite, 60 miles, especially in
the neighborhood of the parks and park
ways macadamzed; Al miles paved with
Belgium blocks, 40 miles with asphalt, and
/ mile with a still more primitive method,
practically unknown to New York though
quite familiar in Philadelphia brick pave
ments. A meeting was held in the annexed
district of Brooklyn last week for the pur-
pose of agitating the question OF the I'M
provement of the pavements of that city,
but in this respect as in some others.
Brooklyn, for obvious reasons, is much be-
hind New York.
In this city there are no streets paved
with brick and there is less than one-quar-
all This is to be found in one of the streets
of the Ninth ward There is a small section
of Nown-a portion of one street-paved with
wood, but wooden paVements have long
ago been voted failure in practical opera
ton in New York. The city has 1856 miles
of granite, 142 miles of macadamiZed roads
and streets 81 miles of asphalt and 80 miles
of Belgium pavement. The city of Philadel-
phia much larger territorially than New
York has 331 miles of Belgium block pave
ment 172 of asphalt, 152 macadam, 76 of Wit
rified brick II of granolithic, of Stag, and
nearly 200 of cobbestone. The growth of
an American city is shown clearly by the
number of miles of improved pavement in
streets. and it is believed by public works
officials that after Jan. l, 1898 there Will
be visible improvement IN all the pave
ments of the city outside of its present
boundaries.