DevelopmentDevelopmentPart 4: Streetcar EraPart 4: Streetcar Era

David A. LanegranDavid A. Lanegran

Geography Geography DepartmentDepartment

Macalester Macalester CollegeCollege

Geography of the Twin Cities

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.