I don't think so. Brick streets made life difficult for people with horse-drawn carriages and wagons, because, for horses, there is almost nothing more slippery than wet bricks. Bricks were put down at the advent of the automotive age to make it easier for motor vehicles to get around -- not horses. Before then, streets were unpaved dirt wagon roads, rutted and often muddy, which made driving a car anywhere a dirty and miserable experience.
Horse owners hated the brick streets because it was hard for a shod horse to have any traction, especially when it rained. And along with the rain, don't forget that at the turn of the 20th century, streets were covered with manure left behind by the many thousands of horses that plied the streets every day. I read somewhere that city workers removed thousands of pounds of manure from the streets every night. And we call that era "the good old days".
Paving streets with cement was cost prohibitive, labor intensive, and still in the future, but bricks were cheap and plentiful, and they could be put in place quickly. And I bet the mayor or somebody at city hall either owned a brick factory, or had a relative who owned one. Somebody made a lot of money from paving streets with bricks.
According to the internet, the steepest part of two streets in Pullman, Washington, in 1913, were paved with brick to provide traction for both horses and automobiles, especially during the winter.
Red Street Bricks
in Historic Houston
Posted
According to the internet, the steepest part of two streets in Pullman, Washington, in 1913, were paved with brick to provide traction for both horses and automobiles, especially during the winter.