19th Century Technology

During the 19th century technological innovations trolleys, railroads, and the automobiles led to the transformation of cities and the building of suburbia. In the beginning of the19th century, the main mode of transportation was the horse and carriage. It wasn't until the later in the century that railway changed people's lives and habits. But even after the arrival of the railway, remote areas still relied on the horse for local transport. The 19th century was the era that properly introduced the transportation. Railroads and railways connected many secluded cities by providing fast and convenient modes of land-based transportation, while government-subsidized steamships and passengers to remote coastal settlements and urban centers.

For example, In New England in 1790, vehicles were few, roads were generally rutted and rudimentary, and traveling any distance was both slow and difficult. Children and poorer adults walked everywhere, and only a minority of farmers had horses and wagons. Many loads of freight were drawn not by horses but by much slower-moving oxen. With a good horse, it took from four to six days, depending on the weather, to travel from Boston to New York. And this was on the best roads, which ran between major cities along the coast. Inland, the roads were even worse, turning to impassable mud when it rained or to choking dust when the weather was dry.” Imagine having just a horse to really to so far and just have to rely on that horse because you had to go where you needed to go. What made the route much worse was the fact that the roads were bad and there was no way that a person could get from point A to point B in 2 days when the day’s route was 7 days. Railroads and automobiles really made traveling much easier for everyone living in many areas of the

Suburbs came about during the course of the 19th century as there was a big improvement in the transportation and for wealthy developments to think about new ways in creating housing and a different place to separate individuals from other races. The growth of the suburbs was facilitated by the development of Zoning Laws, Redlining, and numerous innovations in transport. After the World War II the availability of FHA Loans stimulated a housing boom in the American Suburbs. Streetcar suburbs originally developed along trains and trolley lines that were meant to shuttle workers in and out of the city centers where the jobs were located. This idea came with the term bedroom communities since the people living in the suburbs would go work in the city in the morning and come home at night in the suburbs to sleep. The creating of suburbs and purchasing power was becoming stronger and more accessible to a wider variety of families. Suburban houses also brought about needs for products that were not needed in urban neighborhoods, such as lawnmowers and automobiles. During this time commercial shopping malls were being developed near suburbs to satisfy consumers' needs and their car-dependent lifestyle. For example, Long Island, New York was the first large scale suburban area to develop thanks to William Levitt’s Levittown, New York. This was mostly built for