The early 20th century meant the #development of #Oakland for #cars and for #HomeBuilding. The #bicycle was mostly forgotten, except as a toy or a piece of sports equipment, and #neighborhoods were laid out and #developed privately, by for-profit corporations rather than a civic body meant to benefit the citizens of Oakland. #PublicTransit was deprecated, except as a vehicle for #RealEstate sales. #AutoRow, on Broadway, and the car plants were churning out cars, and #debt to the people of Oakland, and the #newspaper was a marketing organ for these industries... This is all described really well in #MitchellSchwarzer 's book #HellaTown, which I recommend. I like old #maps, knowing how #roads came to be, and I've always been curious about the term "Little Skyline," which shows up in articles from this time. This article explains the route, and tells the story...

https://fastestslowguy.blogspot.com/2023/07/new-roads-open-routes-for-autoists.html

#georeference #OpenStreetMaps #history #Piedmont

@alfredtwu have you read "Hella Town" yet, by Mitchell Schwarzer? I'm early in it. Does a great job of describing the history of development, architecture, public use; why Oakland is the way it is.

#HellaTown