Blox Street

Blox Street is a 4.8 mile long street in the city of Robloxity, and is one of the principal avenues in Robloxity.^[1] It was first mapped out in 1866, and originally called Middle Avenue. In 1901, it was renamed to its current name, which comes from the Blox Springs, a mineral spring located around 1 mile away from 1Dev2 Square. The street is most famous for being the site of the first ever BloxStreet store^[2], which is named for the street. The street has been one of the primary commercial and residential thoroughfares in Downtown Robloxity.

History

In 1791, settlers in what would become Robloxity discovered a hot spring, and it was named Blox Springs. The actual etymology behind it is unknown.^[3] From then, until 1859, transport to and from the springs of was by paths through the forest that divided the center of Robloxity from the western periphery. In 1859, the city government approved the construction of a semi-permanent road between the city center and the springs. ^[4]It was cleared out in October 1859 and originally had a dirt surface, however this washed up easily, and led to the erosion of the surface. Coincidentally, during the same time there was a plan to extend the urban core of Robloxity to provide more housing and business space, and it was decided that the new development should be centered on this road. In 1865, the road in its entirety was paved with cobblestone, and development in the neighborhood that would eventually become SoDo Robloxity(originally called South Of Downtown) begun.^[2]

20th Century

Starting in 1920, with the construction of the 30 mile Robloxity Aqueduct, a dam and tunnel was added in the middle of the Blox Springs, splitting it in half.^[1] The north spring was for recreational activity, while the fenced in south spring was transformed into a reservoir, and because of this, the street was incrementally closed in sections from 1919-1921 to allow for the street to be dug up and the tunnels laid below. The aqueduct tunnel did not span the full width of the street, as the other half was being dedicated to building a future subway (although no tunnels were laid until the 1930s but was never opened for revenue service).^[5] With the failure of the original subway, caused the collapse of the housing market in Robloxity which had a lot of speculative real estate in anticipation of a new rapid transit line.^[6]

Post-War

Unlike some Robloxian cities, the government of Robloxity desired to keep the region's dense, urbanized character, by revitalizing many of the central neighborhoods of Robloxity. To keep wealthy residents from leaving Robloxity, streets like Blox Street were completely made over to attract new business. In 1966, the Robloxity Galleria shopping mall (Now ForumDowntown) was opened, as a three story shopping center near Blox Street and Aqueduct Avenue.