Built to Move Millions: A Look at Streetcars

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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The cities of Columbus and Cincinnati are considering whether to revive one of the earliest forms of mass transit -- the streetcar. Streetcars run down the middle of the street on tracks and were highly popular at the beginning of the 20th century. Cleveland used to have a number of lines that connected the suburbs to downtown, but like most U.S. cities, Cleveland paved over its tracks about fifty years ago. Craig Semsel profiles the rise and fall of the streetcar in his new book, Built to Move Millions, and ideastream®'s Eric Wellman spoke to him in the Cedar-Fairmount neighborhood of Cleveland Heights -- where two streetcar lines used to intersect.