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“The metropolis was a place with readily discernible edges, its lifestyle sharply distinguished from that of the rural ‘rubes’ and ‘hicks,’ many of whom had obtained the benefits of electricity only a decade before. Cities were in the nation’s vanguard, enjoying the latest technology and defining the cutting edge in fashion and culture. . . . Manhattan and Chicago were magnets attracting the ambitious and adventurous, those who sought to get ahead and enjoy the best in life. . . .
“Metropolitan Americans not only perceived a single dominant focus [downtown] for urban life, but also shared common space. . . . [R]esidents relied heavily on public transit. Middle-class men commuted to work on buses or streetcars that passed from middle-class neighborhoods through blue-collar districts, taking on working-class passengers, to the downtown area, a destination for residents from throughout the metropolis.” Workers and shoppers alike shared space and depended on the ability of the city government to protect them.
