Science

Maps of Unrealized City Plans Reveal What Might Have Been

Maps can direct us from here to there, show where one thing is in relation to another, or add layers information to our surroundings. Whatever its form, a map’s main purpose is to make the complex world we live in more comprehensible. But there are also maps that describe the world as it never came to be.
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  • 1925 Los Angeles Rapid Transit Plan
  • 1948 San Francisco Highway Plan
  • 1945 Boston Subway Expansion
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[High-resolution version. Via Los Angeles Metro]

1925 Rapid Transit Plan for the City and County of Los Angeles

One day spent in the gridlock traffic of Los Angeles makes it hard to believe the city once had one of the largest trolley networks in the nation -- and abandoned it. At the height of the automobile boom of the early 20th century, the city changed course and ripped up the tracks in order to build a sprawling network of freeways. What would have happened if Los Angeles hadn’t abandoned mass transit? This 1925 plan gives us a glimpse of that world. At the time, the city had cut a number of trolley tunnels through large hills and connected them to a large terminal in downtown L.A. The 1925 plan looked to unite and expand these tunnels into a comprehensive system that spread out across the entire city. Los Angeles’ current subway system, which began operating in the 1990s, follows many of these same routes, and if expanded out as planned will resemble a future first drawn almost 90 years ago.