ABSTRACT
Have done more towards attracting desirable immigration, populating the State and increasing the value of real estate than any or all other articial inuences combined... . What is true in this respect of our long lines of railroad is equally true on a small scale of street railroads-a fact which
Sagacious Property-Owners
Recognize and act upon, to their own benet as well as to the advantage of the community generally. Oakland is now increasing rapidly and steadily in population, and dwellings are going up in every direction with a rapidity that indicates general condence in a prosperous future. Of course this rapid growth must be attributed mainly to the topographical beauty, and the healthfulness of the locality and its contiguity to the commercial center of the State... .Yet with all these natural advantages, dealers in real estate nd it necessary to improve property, and construct avenues and streets, and use every means their ingenuity can suggest to increase the value and attraction of their lots in order to secure purchasers. Among the
Artificial Means
Thus employed, probably none has proved more successful, or paid a better return on the capital invested, than street-railroad enterprises. The very rst experiment of the kind in Oakland was a grand success, and has led to new enterprises of like character. The rst street railroad projected in Oakland was the Oakland, Brooklyn and Fruit Vale Railroad, put in operation less than three years ago ... . The length of the road is a little less than two miles, passing through the
Business Centre of the City
For a few blocks, the continuation of the line east being anked on either side by some of
the most elegant dwellings, a[nd] tastefully cultivated grounds on the coast.. . . While the object in view in the construction of this line was to increase the value of property contiguous to the route, and it was not expected to “dividend” largely, the result has proved it to be a wise outlay of capital.The road has been a
Paying Investment
From the start, and property along the line, and on the streets intersecting it, has been greatly enhanced in value. Hundreds of ne dwellings have been erected in East Oakland that would not have put in an appearance for years to come but for this judicious enterprise. Another example of the value of street railroads as an investment to improve or open up real estate may be seen in the Broadway and Piedmont Railroad, which was completed last Spring... . This was a private enterprise ...solely to give access to their landed property and enhance the value of property along the line.
