It was no coincidence that Times Square became the great American marketplace for commercial culture in the first decades of the 20th century. Several conditions determined the location of what would become the "crossroads of the world."

New York City had been for over a century the great center of information circulation and the center for commerce with Europe. The volume of imported and exported goods passing through the city's port had grown rapidly throughout the 19th century, and New York moved far ahead of its rivals, Boston and Philadelphia, in the import and export of fashions, design, and ideas. This was also tied to the shift in manufacturing that occurred between 1870 and 1900. While heavy manufacturing moved towards the sources of raw materials, the industries related to the production of cultural goods had to stay close to its customers, in order to keep up with the latest fashions. Publishers, manufacturers of women's clothing and all sorts of luxury goods continued to flourish in the metropolis. With its enormous and widely varied population, New York formed an unmatched marketplace and provider of any conceivable service or supply.2

Transportation & Infrastructure
Economic and political conditions brought the market to midtown Manhattan. Midtown was by 1918 the center of a complex web of local and national transportation networks, bringing people of all classes, trades and places to a single area. A long period of economic and political decision-making had centered the different transportation networks around mid-Manhattan. The location of the market for commercial culture in that district became a by-product of these decisions. Grand Central Station, at 42nd street and 4th (now Park) Avenue began as a railyard in 1840, and was frequently enlarged until 1913. Elevated railroads ran over the city streets from the 1870s, but provided slow and dirty transportation. This changed with the introduction of the subway, the first line of which ran underneath a substantial length of Manhattan island. In 1857 a ban was placed on steam-powered locomotives below 42nd street to control smoke and fire pollution, forcing The Grand Central Station to be built at that point. These decisions -- and many others at the time -- had been made by the politically powerful economic elite to protect and serve the city’s chief business and residential districts. The intertwining of the various transit services made 42nd street in the decades to follow one of midtown’s most important cross-streets. Times Square became a key point as intersection of the elevated and subway lines.3

While owners of already-developed property sought to keep the transit facilities out of their neighborhoods, owners of less developed property lobbied for the opposite, arguing that the absence of adequate transit was unfairly holding their district back. The multiple subway lines met the needs of several key economic interest groups, and accommodated others by avoiding the avenues and boulevards they wished to protect. That the subway gave a great locational advantage to Times Square, at a time when theatrical entrepreneurs were on the move, was incidental.

Land-use Policies & the Garment Industry
National political and economic forces brought the market for commercial culture to New York City; local transportation resolutions brought it to mid-Manhattan. Land-use laws, such as the 1916 Zoning Resolution, pushed the related businesses to the Times Square area.4 Midtown Manhattan became a major center for retailing, garment manufacture, and other businesses following the injection of the transit networks. Especially the garment industry grew rapidly from the 1880s. Retail stores also grew, some emerging as vast department stores in the early 1900s. Retailers moved up Broadway, away from the expanding financial and government office district, in search of better access to their customers. They were closely followed, however, by the garment manufacturers, who wanted to minimize their own transport costs and maximize their access to buyers. While the retail and department stores were greatly welcomed uptown, residents of the more fashionable areas tried to keep the manufacturers out, complaining that the industrial look of these districts made (women) shoppers feel unsafe and uncomfortable. The retailers of Fifth Avenue had formed the Fifth Avenue Association, and threatened to boycott any manufacturer who located in a loft above 34th Street. The Fifth Avenue Association and several other business associations supported the Zoning Resolution of 1916, which excluded industrial activities from districts designated as commercial, and specified Fifth Avenue and Broadway as commercial districts. As result of the Zoning Resolution and other governmental and private incentives the industry was moved to the west side of mid-Manhattan. The area between Broadway and Eighth Avenue and 35th and 40th Streets is still known as the Garment District. Subsequently, the theatres in this area began to disappear. It would have been impossible to have matinee performances when the narrow streets were filled with the business activities (crowds of workers, vehicular traffic, garment racks) during the day. At the end of the nineteenth century, New York's theatres were scattered all around the city, but many disappeared in the following 25 years. In the same period, over 80 new theatres were built in and around Times Square. Further land-use laws pushed the theatres away from Fifth Avenue and up to Times Square.5

The Zoning Resolution of 1916 did not create New York's garment or theatre districts, nor did it protect these districts. The zoning regulation had been written to reduce congestion in the city, but the congestion of the theatre district was recognized as both a cause and effect of the concentration of transit facilities. Property owners raised their rents, making it impossible for the smaller theatres, with only a handful of performances a week, to stay open. The more profitable movie houses came in their place, showing films to larger audiences throughout the day. By 1925 many proposed theatres were combined with large office buildings and hotels. The nearby Rockefeller Center and Radio City (with its Music Hall) was a typical culmination of these tendencies, combining entertainment with massive office towers.6