<\/strong>Most people who want to navigate the streets of New York City quickly learn the easy-to-follow logic of the city\u2019s street grid. But what many\u2014even long-time residents\u2014may not know is how that grid came to be, and how it transformed Manhattan from a naturally rocky, hilly island into a level playing field that engendered the commercial and urban hub that New York City has become over the past 200 years.<\/p>\n Those who want to know can visit \u201cThe Greatest Grid,\u201d<\/a> an impressive exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, or buy the book that accompanies it. Both celebrate the 200th<\/sup> anniversary of the grid, which got its start in 1811, when New York City had about 96,000 residents.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s leaders could see that the population was going to grow, and they wanted to create a city that worked\u2014something modern and in contrast to many European cities, which lacked a coherent street system. [Think London.] \u00a0So, they commissioned a massive survey of the island. On display at the museum are the tools of the trade: surveyors’ transits, chains, quill pens, leather-bound logbooks inscribed with measurements and calculations in the flowery penmanship of the era, and stone mile markers that were installed along the way.<\/p>\n The survey took years, but it may have been the easiest part of this massive public-works project. The next step was to decide what kind of a grid the city would divide itself into. Grids were not new, and there were many models to choose from. In one section of the exhibit, you can study grid maps of Paris, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Savannah, Georgia\u2014each of which has its own personality. Among the most intriguing grid maps is the one of Lima, Peru. According to historians, a city grid was part of Spain\u2019s strategy in its invasion of Peru in the 16th century. Spanish settlers imposed a street grid on Lima as a way of\u2014literally\u2014dividing and conquering the local residents.<\/p>\n There was plenty of dividing and conquering to be done in New York City, too. The most populated area of Manhattan was its southern end, where landowners had well-established homes, farms and businesses–mostly on large, irregularly shaped parcels. Farther north, there were small homesteads and lots of squatters in makeshift shacks and tents. Few\u2014whether rich or poor\u2014were interested in moving and\/or losing their land, so the city planners had to cut a lot of deals to get their plan off the ground.<\/p>\n