blows towards the east, is sometimes cited as an explanation for the east-west division. This is speculation - which does not apply for Stockholm, but does for many other large cities in Europe - in the case of Oslo, the east-west distinction was already prominent before industry smoke became a factor in the city. The first half of the 20th century Active municipal housing policy After the financial crash in 1899, construction of apartments was almost completely halted. From 1911, the municipality took responsibility of building apartments, and up to right after 1930, new apartment areas for the worker class were built. These were high-quality apartments, with a focus on good distribution of light, air and parks. But the east-west distinction still showed through; in Torshov, Nordre Åsen, Vøyenvolden, Rosenhoff, Markus Thranes gate 8-20 and Tøyengata 47, the working class lived in the apartments. Officials and other middle class moved into the apartments that were built in the West End: Ullevål hageby, Lindern, Jessenløkken. Ilaløkken, which is located near the boundary line along Uelands gate, received a mixed population of middle class and workers. From 1935, the cooperative housing company OBOS was an entrepreneur for the municipally-driven building of apartments. In the outer city, both in the east and in the west, villa areas arose along the subway lines. Oslo was the dominant industrial city in Norway, with specially larger incomes among tax payers than in the average municipality, and managed starting from the First World War and the 1920 and 1930s to build up good municipal services. In regards of education, health care, economic support to those in danger of becoming poor, and many other areas, the capital was the leading city to offer services before other cities, give its own support in addition to that of the Norwegian state, and with well-regarded working environments that became exemplary outside the city borders. Health care benefits improved in the East End, but the east-west division still remained. The Labour Party and the Conservative Party divide the city in two parts politically Politically, Oslo has long been more divided than the rest of Norway. The Norwegian Labour Party became large very early, whereas people with normal incomes often voted for the Conservative Party if they worked in offices or in the public sector. In the 1906 election, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party had a total of 86% of the