The mass exodus of the upper class from Brooklyn Heights made
it easier for the lower classes to spread into Brooklyn. How they
spread into Brooklyn gave a borough a function within the city all
of its own.
The completion of the Brooklyn Bridge just before the turn of
the 20th century, allowed the lower classes and newly arriving immigrants
to move into Brooklyn with relative ease. The technological amazement
and attention the bridge had over the city during the time of its
completion, did what it was intended to; de-centralize the city and
spread commerce into Brooklyn, making it a place for living instead
of work. The IRT took advantage of the bridgeÕs "job" within the city,
to create a subway line into Brooklyn to enhance the growth of the
city into it. Little did the owners of the IRT know that the spread
of lower classes throughout the city, would displace the upper class.
Even the Brooklyn Dodgers left the borough to Los Angeles since they
could not make as much money off the new inhabitants of Brooklyn.
However, it was not only the Bridge that allowed the lower class to
spread around the city so easily. The Boulevards in Brooklyn made
it easy to create underground railways around the ever changing borough.
The Boulevards, unlike the 1811 grid system in Manhattan, were
created in the younger Brooklyn borough off of the Parisian Boulevards
from Paris invented by Baron Von Houssman. The IRT and BMT built subway
lines that followed the boulevards around Brooklyn after exiting The
Heights.
The train lines that were built since the 1920Õs still exist today.
Although most were rerouted to the train lines that travel around
Brooklyn today, they still follow the Boulevards that were designed
to help move people throughout the city, which was Baron Von HoussmanÕs
intention when he invented the Parisian Boulevards. NYC, the IRT and
BMT simply used this Parisian idea and ultimately brought it to a
whole new level.
