VISUAL ACTIVITY The Arrival of the Electric Streetcar The electric streetcar was part of the transformation of the cityscape in the late nineteenth century. This shiny new streetcar stands in front of Cincinnati’s City Hall in 1890. © Bettmann/CORBIS. READING THE IMAGE: What other type of transportation is pictured here, and what do you see that suggests the electric streetcar would be cleaner for the immediate environment? CONNECTIONS: What did the coming of mass transit mean to the social geography of the city?