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Bogota 1880s to 1950s

My hometown was only just starting to build proper buildings... but check out the lovely Bogota of yester-year:

Images from: http://www.tramz.com/co/bg/t/te.html

1883 Plaza de Bolivar.

1937 looking north up Cra 7 from Plaza de Bolivar.

1946 Cra 7 near downtown

1930s/1940s Plaza de Bolivar

By adrimm on Apr 2, 2008, 19:27 in Friendly Talkzone.

tejasmarcos says on Apr 2, 2008, 19:30:

nice find.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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adrimm says on Apr 2, 2008, 19:32:

I thought so too :)

Here is another from the 1940s

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jorgegdiaz says on Apr 2, 2008, 19:52:

Those trolleys resemble so much a FLAT San Francisco...

Man with hole in pocket feel cocky all day.

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adrimm says on Apr 2, 2008, 20:09:

Most cities had them back in the day - In the early 20th century over 95% of cities/towns in the US with more than 10,000 people had at least one street car line.

Then in 40s some were bought up by oil and auto companies and torn up and others torn out becuase the car was seen as better.. Unfortunately they didn't know then what we know now.

San Fran is one of the few that managed to keep them. Lisbon Portugal also still has the originals from way back when, they're charming & encourage good urbanization.

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nine inch nails says on Apr 2, 2008, 20:09:

Those are neat.

get down, get down. are you afraid of the boogie monster?

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de pronto says on Apr 2, 2008, 20:15:

These pictures made me remember the ones I saw at the planetario in Bogota.

Interesting

... y viaje a Macondo todo pagado

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msaucey says on Apr 2, 2008, 20:15:

I've said it before and I'll say it again.... Sweettttt....

Not bad for a bunch of people that live in the jungles....

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

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adrimm says on Apr 2, 2008, 20:15:

Photos of trolleys in many other cities (pre WWII)... and info on how they ceased to be:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=576414

A post from that url:

"Here's a limited list of streetcar systems that were destroyed after WWII. This is just some of the larger systems...

1945

Austin Texas
Bangor Maine
La Crosse Wisconsin
Lincoln Nebraska
Newport News Virginia
Salt Lake City Utah
Savannah Georgia
Worcester Massachusetts

1946

Albany New York
Hershey Pennsylvania
Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario
Lévis Québec
New Albany Indiana
New York (Manhattan) New York
Oklahoma City Oklahoma
Peoria Illinois
Schenectady New York
Stoneham Massachusetts
Tampa Florida

1947

Akron Ohio
Boise Idaho
Dayton Ohio
Fairmont West Virginia
Fort Wayne Indiana
Hagerstown Maryland
Knoxville Tennessee
Lancaster Pennsylvania
Lethbridge Alberta
Little Rock Arkansas
Marion Indiana
Memphis Tennessee
New Bedford Massachusetts
Niagara Falls Ontario
North Vancouver British Columbia
Parkersburg West Virginia
Pueblo Colorado
Tuscaloosa Alabama

1948

Fort William Ontario
Louisville Kentucky
New Haven Connecticut
New York (Bronx) New York
Norfolk Virginia
Oakland California
Phoenix Arizona
Port Arthur Ontario
Providence Rhode Island
Roanoke Virginia
Québec Québec
Quincy Massachusetts
St. Catherines Ontario
Saint John New Brunswick
St. John's Newfoundland
Sioux City Iowa
Victoria British Columbia
Wheeling West Virginia

1949

Atlanta Georgia
Columbus Ohio
Cornwall Ontario
Halifax Nova Scotia
Jersey City New Jersey
Nelson British Columbia
Richmond Virginia
St. Petersburg Florida
San Diego California
Toledo Ohio

1950

Buffalo New York
Calgary Alberta
Covington Kentucky
Denver Colorado
Portland Oregon
Regina Saskatchewan
Sudbury Ontario
Westchester New York

1951

Cincinnati Ohio
Des Moines Iowa
Edmonton Alberta
Fort Collins Colorado
Hamilton Ontario
Saskatoon Saskatchewan
Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania

1952

Reading Pennsylvania
Yonkers New York

1953

Birmingham Alabama
Indianapolis Indiana
Kansas City Kansas

1954

Allentown Pennsylvania
Altoona Pennsylvania
Cleveland Ohio City lines (Cleveland Transit System)
Minneapolis / St. Paul Minnesota
Scranton Pennsylvania

1955

Atlantic City New Jersey
Omaha Nebraska
Vancouver British Columbia
Winnipeg Manitoba

1956

Dallas Texas
Detroit Michigan
New York (Brooklyn) New York
Rochester New York light-rail subway

1957

Kansas City Missouri
New York (Queens) New York Queensboro Bridge shuttle

1958

Chicago Illnois
Milwaukee Wisconsin

1959

Montréal Québec
Ottawa Ontario

1960

Johnstown Pennsylvania

1962

Washington D.C.

1963

Baltimore Maryland
Los Angeles California"

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Neonovo says on Apr 2, 2008, 21:10:

For a great read on the era, and a fictionalized account of the destruction of mass-transit in the US check out "Ragtime" by E. L. Doctorow. "In 1902 Father built a house at the crest of the Broadview Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York..."

http://www.amazon.com/Ragtime-E-L-Doctorow/dp/0452279070

An irate citizen evntually took the gang of 3 (Auto, Tire, and Oil) to court over it, and they were indeed found guilty; the citizen was awarded punitive damages in the amount of $1.00. That's right, one measly greenback.

Neonovo

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adrimm says on Apr 2, 2008, 23:02:

msaucey, I totally agree. Wonder where they're hiding the jungle huts?

Neonovo, thanks for the reccommendation.

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Robert Jorge says on Apr 2, 2008, 23:57:

Adrimm is correct. My hometown of Connersville, Indiana had a trolley going up Grand Ave. up until after WWII. That was a town of 15,000 people, the county seat of Fayette Co., with the next biggest town in the county being about population 300. At that time it was also known as "Little Detroit", home of the Auburn, Cord, Dusenburg(sp?), and a half dozen other auto manufacturers.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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jorgegdiaz says on Apr 3, 2008, 05:55:

When you read Fast Food Nation, the author shows how mass transportation was inconvenient to boost economy (less cars, less jobs). It`s a pretty interesting theory. Comparing how people wanted to have what the 40´s -50`s California had.

Man with hole in pocket feel cocky all day.

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dwr says on Apr 3, 2008, 06:02:

Best photos left on this site to date. Very cool.

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morphus says on Apr 3, 2008, 06:48:

Don't forget El Bogotazo

opo0909

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kalder says on Apr 3, 2008, 07:51:

Pictures like that draw me in. I settle on one character and begin to wonder who they were, what they did, what became of them etc.

"kalder- have you ever had a woman?"--Sam Salmon

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jaramillo says on Apr 3, 2008, 08:21:

My parents in Bogotá, around 1950, before they married.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

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kat1 (Moderator) says on Apr 3, 2008, 08:24:

wow those photos are incredible...
have you noticed Bogotá used to be cleaner...

engage brain before opening mouth

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jaramillo says on Apr 3, 2008, 09:41:

Medellin used to be called "La tacita de plata", for its cleanliness. It was very clean loooong ago.

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adrimm says on Apr 3, 2008, 20:32:

Funny how things from 80 years ago can look so much better than the fortress-conjunto'ed Bogota of today. Some of the new stuff is very intimidating and not scaled for people.

Bogota has some nice newer architecture in the area around zone rosa, and all the way to the AutoNorte.As they build westwards I wish they would encourage a similar quality, with nice streets for walking, and friendly, purpose built storefronts.

Jaramillo, great pic. I have one of my mom. Street photogs seem have been more common back in the day too.

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