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JUNE 1, 1912/
WHY THE BRONX IS DEVELOPIKG SO RAPIDLY. BREATHING PLACES LIKE THIS ABOU.ND EVERYWHERE.
RECENT TENDENCIES OF GROWTH IN THE BRONX.
The Borough Is Developing Independent Shopping, Amusement and Industrial
Centers—A Better Class of Houses, too, in the Residence Neighborhoods.
â– yHB Borough of the Bronx is progress-
â– •â– ing with rapid strides in community
feeling aJid importance in the Greater
City. The old lines of demarcation which
once marked its division into the ol<I vil¬
lages, wltii their opposing interests, are
disappearing fast, and the people now
feel a sense of participation in the larger
affairs of the city. The encroaching of
husiness in Manhattan on many districts
v.'here once were only homes has driven
many families northward, and the rapid
transit afforded first by th© Third avenue
elevated and later by the subway exten¬
sion has made it possi'hle for the people
to seek homes in the Bronx. >So great
has been the exodus that in the past ten
years the population of the Bronx has
more than douibled and now new balld-
ings are rented as fast as they can be
completed.
It cannot 'be said that any single section
of the Bronx will have a monopoly of the
growth of population and business. There
are many reasons why these should
spread in various directions froni different
centers now in the borough so as to de¬
velop the borough harmoniously. Effort
will be made to develop each section ac¬
cording to its natural advantages^sec-
tions near the parks for dwellings, and
sections near the water and railroads for
business. The history of the borough
shows that the most rapid growth in pop¬
ulation and influstries has been along the
lines of rapid transit, and especially
where there has been a five-cent fare.
Plans for rapid transit now mat-wring will
result in a complete system of transit
from south to north through the borough
in parallel lines, like the bars of a grid¬
iron.
Kaitid TrauMit l.ines.
Taken in order from 'West to east, they
are as follows: On the extreme west side
of the Bronx, along the Hudson River, is
the New York Central and Hudson River
Railroad, recently electrified for local,
trafRc as far north as Croton. East of
that along Broadway, is the extension of
the 'present Broadway subway. East ot
Ihat is the Putnam Division of the NeW
Tork Cenirall and Hudson River Railroad.
East of that will be the extensions of the
Lexington avenue subway and the Sixth
and Ninth avenue elevated roads up Jeronie
avenue. Next comes the Harlem Rail¬
road, running up Park avenue. This
road with fares reduced, will compete
for local trafflc when the terminals at
Grand Cenlral Depot are finished, so as
to handle the traffic easily. Next comes
the Third avenue elevated railroad, which
will be third tracked and extended to the
northern limits of the borough. Next
comes the present subway to West Parms.
wmch will be extended up White Plains
avenue to Williamsbridge, where it will
meTthe extension of the Third avenue
elevated road and continue with it to
the vicinity of Mt. Vernon. Next wUI
como the New York. Westchester and
BoTon, connecting with the Second ave¬
nue elevated road, crossing the West-
chlster avenue subway and oonnect.ng
with the West Farms subway at Yan
By BOROUGH PRESIDENT CYRUS C. MILLER.
Nest and running north through Mt. Ver¬
non. Next will come the eastern exten¬
sion of the Lexington avenue subwav up
Southern Boulevard to Westchester "ave¬
nue and running along "Westchester ave¬
nue to Pelham Bay Park. Next comes
the Westchester .Branch of the Nev.^ York,
New Haven and 'Hartford Railroad, con¬
necting with the iSecond avenue elevated
road and running northeast through Pel¬
ham Bay Park and joining the main line
at New Rochelle.
All of these lines, avith the exception
of the New York Central on the extreme
west of the borough, the Harlem Road
in the center, the New York, Westcliester
and Boston, and the New Tork, New
Haven and Hartford on the extreme east,
wil! charge a five-cent fare from Man¬
hattan to anywhere in the Bronx. Prob¬
ably the Harlem. Railroad will follow suit
when it bids for loeal traffic.
CYRUS C. MILLER.
Thougfi keeping pace with this devel¬
opment of north and south rapid transit
lines, the surface trolley lines have failed
until recently to realize the necessity of
adequate crosstown lines to serve as feed¬
ers for the rapid transit lines and fur¬
nish the necessary mobility for passenger
trafflc among the various .sections of the
borough. During the past two years
much has heen done to remedy this de¬
ficiency and the policy of the surface
roads shows that soon we shall have
crosstown lines sufficient to meet the de¬
mands-
The great increase in population has
made more demands on the school sys¬
tem of the borough than it could meet
and plans for increased equipment have
been pushed as fast as possHble. Three
and a half millions of dollars have 'been
appropriated for new schools in the Bronx
since January J, 1910, and the incre-ased
accommodations will provide approxi¬
mately 23.000 sittings. Our only high
Hchool^but one of whicli we arc justly
proud—the Mon-is High School, has grown
until it has a ipopulation of over four
thousand—'as large as that of a small
town. It has been necessary- to hold
morning and afternoon sessions and to
occupy space in two annexes to accommo¬
date all who attend. In the year 1910-
1911 forty-one per cent, of our elementary
school graduates entered high school, and
it is the opinion of many school teachers
and school authorities that a mucli larger
percentage would go to high school if
there were one or two more buildings in
those parts of the borough from whicii
the present buildings are not easily ac¬
cessible. Land has been acquired for a
high school at 184th street and Creston
avenue, and it is hoped that the con¬
struction of a building there will be has¬
tened, as a high school in that location
will serve a large and constantly i/n-
creasing population.
Dwellius- HouNo Coiistriiftioii,
The most active building of dwellings
in the Bronx in the past year has taken
â– place in the section bounded roughly hy
Webster avenue on the west. 149th street
on the south. Southern Boulevard and
West Farms road on the east, and Bronx
Park on the north. In order to suggest
the hest location for a new high school. I
had a map prepared showing the location
of dwellings erected since January 1, 1911.
Accommodations for ten families were
represented by a small red disc. The
section mentioned was so dotted wllh red
discs that It looked as if it had the
measles.
The borough administration is looking
constantly ahead to the future needs of
this rapidly developing part of the city.
No opportunity is lost to awaken the
people of the borough to a sense of their
common interests and to make them have
a pride in furthering the progress of the
borough in material welfare and good
government. The Local Board meetings are
held at night, so that all interested in the
public improvements to be made may
come, assist in the discussion and get in
touch with the borough authorities. The
annual observance of Eorough Dav as a
day of recreation in the parks for all the
children of the borough is encouraged for
the same end, and the borough flag haa
been adopted to increase the feeling ot
unity.
Effort is made at every point to make
the Bronx a good place to live in now
and to provide for its future growth. The
new streets that are opened are made
wide, so that in future their appearance
may induce high-class building. In addi¬
tion to the large parks, which comprise
nearly four thousand acres, there are
many small publio squares and open
spaces—a total of 163 acres—which give
the adjoining streets an attractive ap¬
pearance. The Bronx River Parkway
also, to extend from Bronx Park nortii
on both sides of the Bronx River up to
the city's Kensico Reservation in West-