Los Angeles

Coming to Los Angeles we are not only leaving Europe but we will also move to the 20th century: we consider the turn in the city’s mobility system from rail and streetcar to the automobile as the most prominent one sustainably shaping her urban form towards extreme sprawl.

That LA is the Motown in the world is well known that it had one of the largest streetcar systems in the early years of the 20th centrury may be lesser known.

Map of The City of Los Angeles Showing Railway Systems, 1903, Author Horton, G. Ray, Source: David Rumsey Map Collection
Legend to above map

The above map shows the extensive rail and streetcar system as early as 1903.

Security Map And Street Railway Guide of the City of Los Angeles, 1908, Author: Security Savings Bank, Source: David Rumsey Map Collection Klick to enlarge

Five years later it had been further enlarged to the West and South. Circles from Down Town show the extend to which streetcars serve the city.