The herald., 1897-03-16
A PASADENA AND PACIFIC
BOULEVARD

| For a number of years certain citizens
of Los Angeles have worked on scheme
| to secure a respectable driveway be-
| tween Los Angeles and Pasadena, and
| between this city and Santa Monica, but
| their labors have not met with that sue
cess which the nature of the enterprise
merited. 1t is quite possible today to
drive from Pasadena to Santa Monica,
through Los Angeles, but the drive is not
over anything beyond a good country
road a portion of the way, and it is over
some very poor country road the balance
of the way.
For some years the board Of super
visors have attempted to secure right
of way to Santa Monica for boulevard
and their efforts have met With fair
success, but the work of improving the
driveway has been entirely overlooked,
or allowed to lag for want of interest.
The road to Pasadena is fairly good, but
it is not at all what Southern California
should have, and it is no credit to the
public spirited citizens of the two cit
les that it is in no better condition.
1t needs only little energetic work
on the part of the Los Angeles chamber
of commerce, the Pasadena board of
trade and the Santa Monica chamber
of commerce, acting in unison on we'll
defined plan, to secure for us boule
ward OF which every citizen of Southern
California would be proud. 1t ought
to start in above Altadena at the very
base of the foothills, and sweeping down
through Pasadena, along the edge of the
arroyo, by Sycamore grove, into Los
best streets, out over the western mesa.
via the Soldiers Home, and end at the
edge of the silver-crested waves of the
Pacific in front of Santa Monica's bold
bluff. This much for its route.
AS to its makeup, it ought to be tree
lined its entire length. Every variety
of palm and eucalyptus that can be
grown in the world will flourish like
weeds in this climate, and they ought
to be on that famous boulevard. And
the feathery pepper, the stately rubber
tree, the fragrant magnolia and the
delicate-leaved acacia should be there
III abundance. There should be a smooth
path for bicyclists and pedestrians, and
we'll sprinkled roadway for vehicles.
Such a drive would be lined in few
years with handsome residences, and it
would become something OF which our
citizens would be proud and which could
be shown to tourists as a sample of the
possibilities of this marvellous land.
And now as to cost: Itneed not bank
rupt any citizen of Los Angeles county
to make and maintain such driveway.
Every owner of a bicycle can afford to
pay some additional tax toward it, and
every man who sells a bicycle can do
the same. Every man who owns a We
hicle, every man who sells vehicles, every
man who owns horses, and every man
who raises feed for horses, can all af-
ford to pay a trife extra in taxes for
such purpose. Every property owner
in Los Angeles, and Pasadena, and in
Santa Monica can afford to have few
mills added to his annual tax rate for the
next ten years to accomplish the thing
outlined above. Every hotel man and
every man having a house to rent. or
selling goods to hotels ard lodging
houses, is interested in making this city
an attractive place for tourists A bou-
levard as Enthusiastically beautiful
as here outlined would make this class
of people linger in Southern California
longer and be more desirious of coming
back.
As to the method of raising the funds:
A committee appointed by any of ths
three commercial bodies of Los Arge-
les can soon formulate plan for that
The county might we'll issue bonds for
reasonable amount to help the thing
along. The cities interested can also
each afford to do something substantial
toward this end. There are public spir-
tied men among us who are always
ready to subscribe to any public i'm
provement which is really meritorious