From a rough track with a solitary tree marking its
beginning to one of the biggest, busiest, noisiest and tallest avenues on the
continent, this is the story of Avenida Paulista.
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| 1891 - Avenida Paulista is inaugurated |
Its conception goes back to the 19
th century and
the need for housing onn the perimeter of the city. Central areas such as Praça
Republica and Campos Elísios, which today are run down and undesirable, were
hot in demand and expensive to live in. And so an avenue was constructed around which
rich as well as humble housing could be built. The official name was Avendia
das Acácias but the engineer in charge of the project, a certain
Joaquim Eugênio de Lima, baptised it Avenida Paulista in honour of the Paulistas. The
name stuck.
In 1898 it underwent refurbishment. Pavements were created and four rows of trees were built along the avenue, two on each side.
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| Avenida Pualista 1902 |
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| Avenida Paulista 1902 |
In 1909 it had the honour of being the first street in São Paulo to be upgraded to asphalt.
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| A car show on Avenida Paulista in 1928 |
At the end of the 1920s the name of the avenue was changed to Avenida Carlos de Campos for political reasons. However, the public outcry was such that Avenida Paulista was immediately readopted.
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| Avenida Paulista 1935 |
Until 1950 it continued to be a residencial area but slowly
the increased business needs of the greater city began drawing commerce towards
Avenida Paulista.
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| Luxury villas belonging to coffee barons and rich immigrants on Avenida Paulista in 1956 |
Then in the 1960s and 1970s a dramatic change occurred as the law governing land usage became more lenient and a housing boom led to a host of 30 storey high buildings being built in quick succession.
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| Avenida Paulista in 1970 |
It now serves as an artery to other avenues such as Dr.
Arnaldo, Rebouças, 9 de Julho, Brigadeiro Luís Antônio, 23 de Maio and Angélica.
Despite the invasion of big business Avenida Paulista is still home to an
extraordinary number of residents. Due to its length and height, if it were a
city it would have over 200,000 inhabitants and be among the 150 biggest cities
in the country comparable to Praia Grande or Boa Vista.
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| Avenida Paulista today |
1 comment:
should'nt sao paulo rio, and every major city/state in brazil have two things:
cassinos (how come those are illegal there??)
and a tgv train, so locals get the most of everything in their places
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