The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-03-20

where and make daily use of the
street railways.
This same condition obtains in other
wards and is noted also in Brooklyn
Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, in fact
in all cities of the first class and
is also found in cities of the second
and third class as well, probably every
city that has street railway snotes
the same condition to greater or lesser
extent. In many cities this action
permits large proportion of the dwell
lers to live in detached structures
with open yards, adding greatly to the
health and pleasure of the people.
Influence of Electric Railways or
Suburbs.
The electric railway has given pow
erfnl impetus to suburban life in the
vicinity of our large municipalities
Prior to the advent of electric railways
the suburban dweller was confined tC
the steam railway as a means of trans
portation. Suburbs were of necessity sit
mated chiefly along the lines of the great
through railways since it was not usu
ally practical to build a local steam
line for suburban traffic alone.
The electric railway has not by any
means wholly superseded the steam
railway as a means of transportation
for suburban dwellers, but large
proportion of the suburban resident
who were dependent on steam rail
WAYS are now served also by electric lines
and many new suburbs have beer
created by the extension of electrics
The area of suburban life has thu:
been increased and the way opened
to many favorable sites previously
inaccessible.
The advantages of the electric lint
over the steam road are important
While the speed of the steam train i
greater than most suburban electric
cars, the electric is run much more
| frequently, it is free from smoke ant
cinders and can usually carry its su
burban passenger more nearly to The
precise point he desires to reach. The
steam railway has but few stations
within the city limits and its near
est station is often considerable
distance from the business center o.
the city.
Effect of Street Railways in Concen
trating Business.
Street railways permit the manu-
featuring establishments and still more
the commercial establishments of tn,
city to be located in such manner a.
will be most convenient and economi
cal for themselves and patrons. There
is great economy in the concentration
of business in specialized centers. This
is now noted in almost every large city
Without effective means of transport
ing passengers, such concentration
could not have been accomplished t.
the same extent. A conspicuous illus
tration of the advantages of local con
centration of business is found in The
retail sections of great cities, few
blocks of State street in Chicago j:
a case in point.
Nearly all of the great retail houses
of that city are located within a few
blocks of each other and mostly or
the same street. Customers from al
parts of the city are able to come
to common center like this where
great stocks, wide variety and effective
competition would have been largely
lacking had they been compelled to pa
tronize small concerns within walking
distance from their homes.
The large scale on which retail
business in cities is now conducted with
it's resultant economies would not have
been possible in any such degree with
out the opportunity of bringing widely
separated inhabitants to single shop
ping section. The mammoth stores OF
great cities could never have attained
present Importance except through the
aid of the street railway.
The only figures l have found bearing
upon this question was in report
on the Chicago transportation problem
in 1902 which estimated the daily
movement of the people into the cen
trail section of Chicago by means OF
the surface street railways alone at
about 225,OOO. The elevated railways,
of course, carried a very large num-
Der in addition. 1t has been esti-
mated that the day population of Man
haitian Island below Canal street is
about half a million greater than the
night population and large proper
ton of this enormous number is car
ried by the street railways.
Effect of Street Railways on Land
Values and Rents.
Closely connected with the influ-
ence of the street railway in. spreading
out the residential sections and con-
centrating the business sections of the
cities, is the influence upon value of
lands and rents. Every extension of
railway line into good districts in
creases the selling and rental value of
the real estate in the vicinity. In num-
erous cities real estate owners have
built railways into their property to
help them in selling their land.
There is another side to this aues-
ton, however, and the railways some
times help to decrease values in some