The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-09
The new JERSEY SUBURBS.
RAPID GROWTH or THE HIGH
LAND SETTLEMENTS.

| ClaGs Population Out Cf the city.
The influences which govern the growth
OF city like New York are, Of course
exceedingly complex. Many Of them are,
indeed. 80 little Understood az TO escape
recognition. It Is evident that the popu-
lation is growing at an unprecedented
rate. The city, however, draws its sus-
tenance and receives It's power Of expan-
sion from th, industry Of the nation AZ a
whole What change Is taking place In
the country's economic life to make room
for an annual addition to the army Of wage
earners In New York exceeding the entire
population Of city Of the rank OF Albany?
A few yeaB ago 1t was argued that the
| future expansion Of the country's princi-
| pal seaport would be comparatively slow,
because all the Western lands had been
! taken up for settlement shutting out the,
| prospect Of new interior markets for manu-
| featured products. Instead, the growth
| Of New York at present is on a larger scale
than It has ever been in the past.
Perhaps the city Is drawing renewed
vitality for the development of the nation
into a manufacturing community, Here
tofore the country's chief source OF wealth
has been agriculture. II the nation Ia now
turning It's capital and energy mainly to-
ward manufactures and commerce, then
the accretion Of population in New York
| Is likely TO be accelerated even beyond
| its present rate Experience has shown
that In a nation passing from agriculture
| to manufacturing industries the great
centres Of distribution grow faster than the
country as a whole
In the absence Of an actual census, II
would perhaps be impossible to determine
whether or not the present growth Of New
| York exceeds that OF the decennial period
| ended in 1890 except by observing the
pressure Of population. upon housing
] That a great speculation in real estate
/ would follow the opening OF the subway
was expected. II was not foreseen how
! ever, that the huge tracts Of land in upper
| Manhattan and The Bronx made accessible
/ by the rapid transit road would be promptly
/ reserved for tenement houses
That they have been appropriated for
this purpose il very extraordinary cir
| cumstance. 1t implies a larger recent
/ addition to the tenantry drawn from the
/ laboring classes than the closest Observers
were aware Of. II the buying AMI build
| ing along the subway had been an isolated
move ment it might have been accounted
| for, IN sTite of it's special cli acter,
on the theory that II was the QUITO me Of
wild spe culation. 1t is not an isolated
move ment, however. Throughout the en-
tire metropolitan area every important
residence community is making unusual
efforts 10 meet Requirements for new hous-
| ing
The essential meaning OF the subway
| boom is that the middle classes are bfing
! - II - - De-
! Though widely distributed, and Conse-
! quently less conspicuous, the growth Of
| the middle classes, as Indicated by housing
conditions In the suburbs, is hardly less
no table than the growth Of the city's t6ne-
| ment house popula ton.
The great building activity in Brooklyn
| and Queens might be accounted for by
! the speculative influence of proposed 70 pid
! transit improvements. The expansion,
| no viewer. Of sn important group of subr is
/ like that N the slopes and plateHus of the
| Orange Mountains cannot be interpreted
/ in this way.
! Tho communities there ere purely resi-
dental and are made up almost wholly Of
/ commuters - Now York They have no
/ expectation Of any radical change in their
| transportation service which i as good
( now a. tho steam railways can make ii.
| Their progress is unqucstonG bly, disasso-
! ciatcd from realty speculation, resulting
! from conditions In New YORK and from the
| RttraCtiv ,nCsi Of their loce ton,
The majority Of them are on First and
! Second mountains. Fir-t Mountain j.
about thirteen miles long and extends in
northcastcrly -southwesterly direction
! from Wost Paterson to Wyoming. The
PassaiC makes a bend around the northcrlY
end Of the mountain, and the Railway,
which has its source in the valley between
/ First and Second mountains, meets its
east branch at the southerly end. The
rise Of the plateau from the Passaic River
! a r., % ha io Il
gradual, but from the base the ascent 10
the crest on the hither side Is generally
very steep. The average elevation IA from
about 500 TO about ESQ feet, and the noun
tain Is densey wooded, except where It has
been cleared for improvement and oultiva-
ton.
The Orange settlements proper begin at
Rosoville station, in Newark, Just across
the Passaic River Here the elevation is
I4S feet, and the gracr continues to rise
Grove street, Fast OTang', II is l54 feet;
az East Orange station il is l79 feet; at
Brick Church il is lsi feet; at Orange, 1884
feet. and just before il turns OF TO tho
south into the valley, nc gTada OF the rail-
road is 1877 feet, This Is not all continuous,
for the forms ton il rolling, and there are
higher as well as lower levels between the
points indicated From Roseville 20 Lew
ellyn Park. through East Orange and Orange,
runs Park avenue. 100 feet wido all tho way.
attractive houses and grounds.
The growth Of East Orange, in the Park
avenue, Springdale avenue, Central avenue
and Harrison street sections was never
better than it Is now. In the northerly
section new streets are rapidly being built
up with houses costing all the way from
ST. 900 to $4,000,
The mountain settlements begin at West
Paterson a residence suburb Of the city Of
Paterson Then comes the great notch,
through which the Greenwood Lake Rail-
road gets to Verona, Caldwell, Essex Fels
and beyond and then come in order Mont
clair Heights. Upper Montclair, Watching,
Montclair, Orange. Llewellyn Park West
Orange, Highland avenue, Mountain Sta
ton, South Orange, Maplewood, Wyoming,
Minburn, Short Hills and Summit. These
are all important places some Of a popular
character others more exclusive. or the
exclusive class are Llewellyn Park and
Short Hills-where only dwellings Of some
cost are permitted, and the building plot
Is fixed at a minimum calculated TO preserve
the architectural standard Of the settle
ment.
Houses, erected for sale in this great
chain OF highland suburbs cost from 5000
to $50. 900, a range Of prices which indicates
that the buyers are thoroughly repre-
sentative Of New Yorks middle classes
-.