History of Mass Transit Systems

A Brief Consideration of Location Theory

Location decisions and patterns are capable of having significant impacts on regional economic growth (Fusfeld and Bates 91). Studies have demonstrated that a variety of factors, including infrastructure development, such as mass transit, are capable of exerting significant impacts on location decisions (Gordon and Richardson 99).

Location theory, among other things, attempts to explain and predict the locational decisions, and the spatial patterns of that are the products of the aggregate locational decisions. While urban economics is concerned with location patterns of households, firms, and other entities which locate in densely developed areas, the body of knowledge also encompasses such considerations as how the patterns of location evolve and change, how the patterns of location are affected by government expenditures, taxes, and regulations, and how the patterns of location affect the economic performance of both firms and households (Levy 9).

. . .
ay in the United States did not open until after 1900. That subway system opened in New York City, which was Philadelphia's chief rival. In the 1890s, five counties in southeastern New York State were merged into New York City as five boroughs. The consolidation created a city of 3.4 million persons that spread over 320 square miles. With such a large geographic area, the need for fast, efficient rapid transit became acute, and this need finally led to the building of New York's first subway line. The elevated railroads had proved only a limited success·they were noisy, dirty (before being converted to electricity), and not fast enough-trains moving at more than about 20 miles per hour shook the supporting structure ominously. Brooklyn and parts of the Bronx were served by electric streetcars that took their power from overhead wires, but the aerial wires were ruled out for Manhattan. Cable cars made a brief appearance in Manhattan but were involved in so many accidents that the experiment was abandoned. The boroughs, however, were very different from one another. Brooklyn, with just over a million people, was more built up than any of the others (except for Manhattan) and contained the bucolic Prospect Park and the ext
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gordon Richardson, City Trolleys, Philadelphia Middleton, Philadelphia Wolf, York City, Manhattan Cable, Transit System, Borough Richmond, Street Attaining, London England, mass transit, urban development, development mass transit, development mass, urban development northeastern, development northeastern, subway line, northeastern united, development northeastern united, rapid transit, york city, relationship development, public transportation philadelphia, patterns location, transit systems urban,
Approximate Word count = 2345
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

More Essays on History of Mass Transit Systems