Editing Key System (section)

=== Other properties ===
From the beginning, the Key System had been conceived as a dual real estate and transportation system. [["Borax" Smith]] and his partner [[Frank C. Havens]] first established a company called the "Realty Syndicate" which acquired large tracts of undeveloped land throughout the East Bay. The Realty Syndicate also built two large hotels, each served by a San Francisco-bound train, the [[Claremont Resort|Claremont]] and the [[Key Route Inn]], and a popular amusement park in Oakland called [[Idora Park]]. Streetcar lines were also routed to serve all these properties, thereby enhancing their value. In its early years, the Key System was actually a subsidiary of the Realty Syndicate.  Berkeley's numerous paths, lanes, walks and steps, were put in place in many of the newly developed neighborhoods, often in the middle of a city block, so that commuters could walk more directly to the new train system. Berkeley's pathways are still maintained by local groups.