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Where it started
Wood pavement was known as Nicholson pavement -
New pavement method
By 1853, Nicolson had been contracted by the city of Boston to pave a number of streets. His method made it to Chicago in November 1856, -
How it helped
Samuel Greeley, was enthusiastically in favor of Nicolson pavement, writing in an 1859 Tribune article: “Wooden pavement…might have great advantages in a city, where suitable stone was scarce, where lumber was the great staple of the market, and where the foundation was new and yielding -
The fail of the pavement
By the 1890s, wood pavement was considered by many to be an anachronistic failure -
The change
During this period, more durable and cost-efficient pavement methods like Macadam and Stone blocks came into use. Most notably, wood pavement was largely replaced by the Belgian blocks that in some places have lasted to this day. -
The alleys
Kids would go and play in the alleys so they could have space for there activities -
Bring people together
It would get neighboors to start communicatng more since they would got in the alleys on the weekend to fix there car, clean, or play with the kids -
Where the alleys end
1913 development competition in the suburbs of Chicago yielded almost no designs with alleys; instead, the proposals featured curvilinear streets, and blocks with interior courtyards. -
New idea for the alleys
In 2006, Chicago became one of the first cities in the country to conduct a “green alley” program, resurfacing alleys to prevent runoff and decrease solar heat absorption. -
Chicago alleys now
Chicago has more than 4,000 miles of streets that serve motorists, buses, cyclists and pedestrians, and 1,900 miles of alleys, providing convenient access to buildings, garages and loading docks.
