Development Part 4: Streetcar Era

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DevelopmentPart 4 Streetcar Era
Geography of the Twin Cities

• David A. Lanegran
• Geography Department
• Macalester College

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The greatest cause of expansion of the
residential neighborhoods was the development of
the streetcar. The greater efficiency of the
streetcars increased the speed and lowered the
cost of the commute. This enabled both middle and
upper income households to move to the edge of
the city.
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At first the companies were known as Street
Railroad companies and they worked with local
governments to get an exclusive franchise to run
their rails down the public right-of-ways.
Therefore, each city had its own company which
developed a system of tracks in the downtowns.
There were very few cross links in these
networks, and in 1913, only two links between the
two cities existed. Gradually the system
developed a more complex pattern with cross
links, and finally there were four connections
between the systems. The streetcars made it
possible for downtowns to grow because the
systems could focus large numbers of workers and
shoppers on the urban cores. The streetcar system
did not get much denser after the 1930s.
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Although the streetcar companies were operated
by some of the best businessmen (and the
wealthiest) in the community, they were
chronically short of cash. Eventually, eastern
investors required the companies to merge to
qualify for further financing. The result was a
very extensive system that ran from Lake
Minnetonka, where the company operated lake
steamers in the summer, and east as far as the
communities on the St. Croix and the prison at
Bayport. Faster and heaver "inter-urban" cars
served the suburban communities. The streetcar
company also operated amusement parks on both
Lake Minnetonka and White Bear Lake to generate
weekend traffic. Most of the neighborhoods of
Minneapolis and St. Paul were developed during
the streetcar era.
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The streetcar lines created a pattern of
accessibility that in turn resulted in variations
in land use. Those businesses that could afford
higher rents or land prices located on the more
accessible streetcar lines and intersections of
lines. Their increased accessibility enabled them
to reach a larger market and make more money.
This map from the 1917 Plan for Minneapolis shows
the patterns of land use that were created by the
streetcar lines.
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This view of a neighborhood in St. Paul shows
the sort of middle-class neighborhood that the
developers were creating during the streetcar
era. The houses are called St. Paul Eclectic
Cubes (in Minneapolis they are called something
else) and reflect the builders taste and ability
to pay.
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This map developed by John R. Borchert of the
University of Minnesota Geography Department
illustrates the pattern of land use in 1900. It
shows that most of the area of the two cities was
densely built up, but suburban expansion was also
occurring. We see the various directions of
growth with tongues of growth toward the
industrial suburbs and resort, summer home, and
suburban villa communities around the lakes.