Claremont's Commercial Growth

CAPE ARGUS - 1939, December 12

A Rise in valuation from £3,089,895 in 1930 to £5,000,000 this year is in itself a pointer of prosperity in which Claremont residents can well take pride. The suburb can look forward to the future with tremendous confidence. 

The reasons for this confidence are based on the opportunities for building expansion in this suburb. On the new estate on the mountain side of the railway and on both sides of Lansdown-road are sites which will provide for hundreds of houses. The Flats side offers opportunities for the houses of the small business man.

Christmas shoppers are not obliged to “go to town” for their purchases these days. Claremont’s shops, during the last few years, have undergone a transformation almost unheard of among the suburbs. Two years ago, Claremont’s narrow, congested main road was condemned – today she has the finest suburban street in the Peninsula.

The housewife may now park her car outside a shop and make her purchases at her leisure. And the shops and bazaars can provide all she needs from kitchen utensils to suites of furniture. The money spent by shop-owners on alterations has rewarded both the shoppers and themselves.

Shoppers, sight-seers and residents who travel to the city daily can have little fault to find with the transport facilities provided in Claremont. Last year 878,000 people used the road transport service between Cape Town and Wynberg. This year the figure has mounted to 1,000,000. There are 34 buses on the line, and a daily service to cater for all the needs of the residents.

Schools are a vital part of the make-up of a prosperous suburb, and Claremont has been fortunate in this respect. There are four large private schools. The Western Province Preparatory School and Herschel High School have been catering for the younger generation in the suburb for a number of years. Lansdown Preparatory School, recently opened, now solves part of the School Board’s problem of how to cope with the growing school population.

There are building plots in the suburb to suit all pockets. The low wage earner can buy his plot for £200 or £300; his rich employer for any price up to £750 a plot. And Claremont’s plots are generous. Instead of the usual “100 by 50” piece of ground the would-be house owner will probably find his plot measures as much as 20 feet more in both directions.

Wise building regulations prevent “jerry-building.” Each house must be different. The wisdom of the regulations can be seen and appreciated during a drive through this picturesque suburb, where the man with a family has realized the value of buying, instead of renting, his own house.

Water supply difficulties, which so plagued the very early residents of the suburb, have disappeared. Water is to be had in abundant quantities for gardening as well as household purposes. With good soil for their gardens, moderate rates to pay, excellent electricity facilities and fine sites for their houses the residents are well pleased with their choice of a home. A swimming bath, to cost about £25,000, will, it is hoped, soon add to the attractions of the suburb.

Nature, too, has helped in Claremont’s commercial growth. The Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which draw people not only from the Peninsula but from all over the world, are within reach of the residents. Nearer at hand are the beautifully planned public gardens. The Keurboom Park which is still in the course of construction, will provide yet another beauty spot as well as a “lung” for the suburb. Claremont has been fortunate in having these places within its boundaries.

It is expected that Claremont’s European population of 7,000 will soon pass the 10,000 mark for there is room for a population many times the size of the present one and the suburb’s progress must result in more and more people being attracted to it. Claremont advanced to the municipality stage in 1883, before which it was controlled by a village management board. Today its Ratepayer’s Association administer the suburb with wisdom and foresight – a guarantee of future prosperity.

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