It is important to take into consideration that this is not a typical day in the city. Some of the pedestrian were aware that the movie was being filmed and tra

It is important to take into consideration that this is not a typical day in the city. Some of the pedestrian were aware that the movie was being filmed and traffic flow was actually staged (there weren't that many cars on the streets in the time, the cars in this movie circle around the frame several times). Some of these people probably went on a leisure walk just to see the filming. That being said, yes, it is likely that average walking pace was slower at the beginning of the 20th century. We have evidence that just in the last couple of decades, average pace of walking has increased around 10% in large metropolitan areas.