How did electric transit impact urban life? The elevator made tall build- ings usable; steel frames could bear the weight of tall buildings. It led to growth of subways; made commuting easier. tennis facilities, a zoo, and bicycle paths.
What impact did mass transit have on American urban development?
During this era, mass transit had a significant impact on American urban development. Mass transit’s importance in the lives of most Americans started to decline with the growth of automobile ownership in the 1920s, except for a temporary rise in transit ridership during World War II.
How did the invention of electricity affect the development of cities?
For the majority of people who worked during the day, the fact that things could be lit up at night meant you had this whole additional period of leisure that you otherwise really wouldn’t have. Electricity also meant you could have elevators and thus much taller buildings, and the density of cities begins to change.
How did the electric streetcar become the dominant mass transit vehicle?
Technological innovations, demand from the transit industry for improved operations, and a desire for mobility enabled the electric streetcar to become the dominant mass transit vehicle in the United States by the turn of the 20th century. The streetcar’s use of electricity makes it a key technology of the second Industrial Revolution.
When did cities start using electricity to power trains?
Once electricity became a possible power source by the 1890s, city dwellers clamored for rapid transit to burrow underground. Power generated from a stationary central source—rather than within a moving locomotive—offered another alternative.
How did the electric streetcar affect the urban environment?
How did the electric streetcar affect the urban environment? Cities could expand as even people of modest means could access new, improved, and less congested housing. the expectation that married women would not work outside the home. an advocate of improved public sanitation.
What other inventions helped make urban planning possible?
Terms in this set (26) People involved: Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan. Inventions that helped: Steel technology, elevators, and concrete.
How did new technology make the building of skyscrapers practical?
How did new technologies make the building of skyscrapers practical? Architects were able to design taller buildings because of two factors: the invention of elevators and the development of internal steel skeletons to bear the weight of buildings. designed the ten-story Wainwright Building in St. Louis.
How did bridge building contribute to the growth of cities?
How did bridge building contribute to the growth of cities? It connected cities together across bodies of water and made getting from city to city easier.
How did new technology lead to urban growth around the turn of the century?
How did new technology promote urban growth around the turn of the century? New technology was made and put into action in the cities. Along with the new technology opened up jobs, and thus why people began locating near cities (urban growth), because that's where the jobs were.
What invention changed life in the cities?
The elevator enabled a revolution in the real estate sector at the end of the 19th century and boosted economic growth in the city, which reached new levels.
What was urban planning and how did it improve city life?
What was urban planning and how did it improve city life? Urban planning was city planners soughing to restore a measure of serenity to the environment by designing recreational areas. Helped improve city life by adding boating, tennis facilities, a zoo, and bicycle paths.
Which invention had the most impact on the possibility of skyscrapers?
It was, however, the refinement of the Bessemer process, first used in the United States in the 1860s, that allowed for the major advance in skyscraper construction. As steel is stronger and lighter in weight than iron, the use of a steel frame made possible the construction of truly tall buildings.
What are three major changes in cities near the turn of the century What effect did each have?
List three major changes in cities near the turn of the century. What effect did each have?Answer:Skyscrapers conserved space by allowing cities to grow upward; new transportation systems and bridges drew neighborhoods closer together; urban planning put parks into cities.
Why were bridges located in towns?
Bridges across wider rivers didn't only reduce the cost of crossing but also made it safer. Bridges allowed for more traffic being directed to cities, so cities could thrive and sustain themselves.
How might the economy and culture of the US have been different without the expansion of public schools?
How might the economy and culture of the united states have been different without the expansion of public schools? It would have taken immigrants slower to adapt to american life, less economic growth.
How did New technologies help improve communication and bring the nation closer together?
How did new technologies help improve communication and bring the nation closer together? Printing technology allowed newspapers and magazines to be mass-produced, making them cheaper. Advancements in aviation made airmail service possible. Advancements in photography helped create the field of photojournalism.
How many people lived in homes served by electricity in 1907?
Again, it was a bit of a luxury. By 1907, only 8 percent of Americans lived in homes served by electricity nationwide. It was not dispersed super swiftly because the infrastructure had to be built. Once that was in place, the question was whether you could you afford it.
What is the story of electric power?
The story of electric power is a story of urbanization. The major battlefield of the famed “War of Currents”—an electric arms-race and propagandized power struggle between Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and George Westinghouse—was Manhattan. But to set the scene, let’s start in Paris, the City of Light. In 1878, Edison attended the Exposition ...
Why did Edison use the electric chair?
Edison, who had always been against capital punishment, decided to promote and actively make happen the first use of electric chair in the state of New York because he wanted to use Westinghouse alternating current generators to persuade people that this was deadly —not something you wanted to have in your house.
What was the Edison world of electricity?
In the Edison world of electricity, you would have a power station every couple of miles—these were all coal fired plants. You can imagine people weren’t all that enthused about that. The other important thing about direct current was it could operate motors, and that was important for businesses.
Where did Tesla work?
Tesla worked at Edison Machine Works on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, fixing generators and developing an arc lighting system that would have brought Edison’s incandescent lighting to the streets (the project was abandoned due to the limitations of DC power).
Why did people like Westinghouse?
People liked Westinghouse; he was very charming. The point of the White City and the Chicago World Fair of 1893 was to incorporate electricity into everything, so that people could see with their own eyes how their lives were going to change and how the world was going to look.
Why did people work during the day?
For the majority of people who worked during the day, the fact that things could be lit up at night meant you had this whole additional period of leisure that you otherwise really wouldn’t have. Electricity also meant you could have elevators and thus much taller buildings, and the density of cities begins to change.
When did the electric streetcar become the dominant mass transit vehicle in the United States?
Technological innovations, demand from the transit industry for improved operations, and a desire for mobility enabled the electric streetcar to become the dominant mass transit vehicle in the United States by the turn of the 20th century.
How did streetcars affect the 20th century?
Streetcars and other forms of electric traction had a tremendous influence on the shapes and sensations of urban life during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In many cases, the technology exacerbated trends that began with the horsecar.
What were the advantages of horse cars over the omnibus?
The use of rails provided a faster, quieter, more comfortable ride, while enabling a more efficient use of horse power. This fact allowed for larger cars that carried approximately three times as many riders as the omnibus. Importantly, the horsecar’s lower operating cost per passenger mile translated to a cheaper fare for users (typically 5 cents compared to the 12-cent omnibus fare) and a growing “riding habit” within the American urban population. 10 Horsecars reduced the time and cost of commuting to and from the central core, and, thus, they expanded the area of development along the urban fringe. Following a slow start, other American cities adopted horsecars by the 1850s, part of the wider context of rampant urbanization during the second half of the 19th century. Typically, a private company ran lines under a franchise awarded by the municipality that outlined the public roads on which the company could build rails and operate routes, along with other stipulations. By the end of the 1850s, New York, New Orleans, Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Cincinnati provided horsecar service. Further expansion developed during the 1860s. 11 Two decades later, almost twenty thousand horsecars traveled on more than thirty thousand miles of street railway across the United States. Such expansion was particularly notable in contrast to comparatively slower growth in Europe (where people called the technology “American Railways”). 12 The horsecar’s initial development in the United States, and its early spread across the country, exemplified how the country was often at the forefront of transit use and technological innovation during the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century.
When did electric streetcars become practical?
But numbers declined soon after electric streetcar operation became practical in the 1890s. By 1913, only twenty miles of cable car track were still in use. 24 Electric streetcars and other electric transit technologies exacerbated the changes in urban life that horsecars and cable cars had unleashed.
What was the first land based mass transit system?
3. By the late 1820s, New York also became home to the first significant form of land-based mass transit: the omnibus.
How do historians use mass transit?
Historians of mass transit use a variety of primary sources to understand issues related to the topic. Such breadth reflects the fact that the study of mass transit requires knowledge of both technical matters and social dynamics, since both elements are interconnected. The voices of elites—politicians, company executives, and technical experts—are often found in reports, trade publications, government records, and other official documents. Uncovering the thoughts and behaviors of ordinary people (whether they be users, observers, or workers) is more challenging but can be gleaned from newspaper reports, literature, and photographs and other forms of visual art as well as the census and other quantitative sources. Scale is a further consideration in the study of mass transit, as transit may be approached from a national to a local perspective. Depending on the research question, scale influences the types of sources used by the historian.
What was the importance of the ferry boats in the early 19th century?
The ferry boats that regularly crossed the waters of a few American cities in the early 19th century provided an important precedent to the mass transit industry that emerged later in the century.
