The beginning of Brooklyn and Manhattans urban development sprouted from what was first known as New Amsterdam. The first people who settled down chose their settlement based on geography and where they though was most convenient to travel around. Topography played a huge role in the places where most communities chose to settle. As new comers analyzed the terrain around them, certain spots became populated more than others, however each area such as Manhattan and Brooklyn, had its own organic form settlement because of their varying geographical features.

The urban development in Manhattan was much more planned out in comparison to the one in Brooklyn, however, it didn’t fully begin as such. The early development started with the Dutch settlers in 1664 who began their urbanization in lower Manhattan known as New Amsterdam. Occupying a new land allowed for settlers to claim their lots freely, usually maneuvering around the bottom of mountains for their convenience. Thus, creating unorganized and unplanned pathways until the Duke of York took over and began to create the 1811 plan which was a grid that expanded all throughout Manhattan beginning from wall street and above. This gave Manhattan a more simplistic way of organizing the streets using right angles disregarding the natural barriers intersecting the grids pathway and destroying any home settlement that was in the way of the new street grid. More and more settlers came along which began a demand for extra space and raising the value of the lots created. This dictated narrower lots and streets to sell for the newcomers.

At this time Brooklyn was already behind in the development that Manhattan was obtaining. The only urban settlements in Brooklyn at the time were the unorganized lots some brave Dutch settlers had created outside of the wall at wall street risking their chances with the native Americans that were already there. Much like the settlement in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn settlers chose their lots and the sizes of them as they pleased. These placements were much more respected than the lots in Manhattan. Many of the streets in Manhattan were directed by the lots positioning’s creating wider streets and greener areas than those being developed at the same time in Manhattan.