> In the 1900s every city was walkable. Most cities had trains of some sort for the majority of transport and bikes or horses for the last mile.

Not the "last mile". The _only_ mile. Cities were so walkable that London had multiple distinct local accents because people were living their entire lives in one neighborhood, venturing outside only for special occasions.

This changed only with the invention of electric trams that allowed people to relatively cheaply move around. Technically, horse-driven trams were invented a bit earlier but they never got built at scale.

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pasc1878 3 days ago | parent [-]

In London trains came in 30-40 years before electric trams. So trains were the driving force.

See the Underground for an example.

Might even be 70 years see the London-Greenwich railway for the first instance.

	▲	cyberax 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		The early trains did not significantly change the situation, they were more useful for trade and long trips. They were not frequent enough for daily commutes for the majority of city residents. London and Paris were real outliners, with the early adoption of steam-powered subways. Mostly because they had to due to their size, but it really was the tram that initially allowed the working-class city population to commute freely. It's also interesting that it coincides with the significant boost in productivity, and also with general improvements to workers' rights.