routes, and construction low-cost and high-density housing. The first multi-story building on the avenue was a seven-story structure at the corner of Paulista and Frei Caneca constructed in 1939. The most important of the ones which still stand to this day is Casa das Rosas, near Praça Osvaldo Cruz in the very beginning of the long avenue. It was turned into a cultural center in the late 1980s. The house has oil/hydraulic heat radiators, a luxury only the millionaire could afford. Modernization Paulista Avenue underwent a massive renovation and verticalization effort beginning in the 1950s, a trend that followed president Juscelino Kubitschek's vision of rapid economic expansion of Brazil. Developers pressured legislators to allow for the removal of Neoclassical, Hindu-style and Middle Eastern structures along the street. These and other buildings were torn down overnight to avoid popular resistance. The avenue became home to financial institutions and it became a symbol of the economic power of the State of São Paulo. The concentration of commerce on Paulista Avenue in the 1950s attracted a new population of middle class residents in the area, both at the expense of the city's historic downtown area. The change in economic, social, and cultural status of São Paulo, as exemplified by Paulista Avenue, attracted migration from poorer areas of Brazil and the subsequent appearance of favelas at the perimeter of the city. Paulista Avenue again underwent significant structural renovation in 1972. The "Novo Paulista" (English: New Paulista) master plan of Mayor José Vicente Faria Lima significantly increased the vehicle capacity from 20,000 vehicles per day to more than 100,000 at present. All trees along the avenue, numbering 182 on the right and 140 on the left, were declared eyesores and the trees were removed to accommodate the increase in transportation routes. Current trees on the avenue, which are in number 390, are the result of replanting between 2007 and 2008. Transportation It is estimated that more than 800,000 commuters transit Avenida Paulista daily. The avenue is served by the city's subway system, with the Line 2 (Green Line) of the Metrô (São Paulo's Metro system) running underneath the avenue from one end to the other. This line connects the East and West sides of the metropolis having transfers to the Line 1 (Blue Line), the Line 4 (Yellow Line), the Subway Line 5 (Lilac Line) to the south side, the train Line 10 (Turquoise Line)