Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-01

al the other end the street would ter
IT mate in broad plaza in front Of the
| station.
From the Station Plaza west to Los
Angeles street the surface development
| of the broad way may reasonably be
anticipated. My conception of 1t is that
! 1t would be a great traffic highway, that
as the formal entrance to so large and
busy a city as Los Angeles the softer
graces Of abundant vegetation would be
out of place. that its beauty should con-
sist mainly of its dimensions. its proper
tions. it's vistas and its utility. My rec
ommendation, therefore, is as follows:
On each side a broad paved sidewalk.
twelve feet wide; between the walk and
the curb a strip of parking, l. e., turf,
sixteen feet wide. In determining this
the great width of the street must be
considered. Beyond the curb, on each
side, a twenty-eight- driveway, re i.
served for slow moving vehicles; beyond
this drive on each side and nearer the
! center of the street thirty-foot drive
! way for rapidly moving or light passen-
ger vehicles, in the middle a double car
! track. The only trees should be placed
In the side parking, between walk and
curb. They should be formal in char
| acter and uniform in variety and spacing
1t will be observed that for the 600 feet
from Wall street to Los Angeles street
the north side of the broadened way runs
very close to Winston street This thor
oghfare. making a long curve to the
south, leaves for a distance of hundred
feet space of less than twenty-five feet
between Its south line and broadened
Fifth streets north line Even at the
remotest ends of the arc the distance
between the two is only about seventy
five feet. 1t is an interesting situation.
Public Buildings Grouped
AN ADMINISTRATORS CENTER-In
the county court house. superbly situated
on It's mound; in the new Federal build
Ing, under construction diagonally across
from 1t, and In the need lof a new city
hail. yet to be located, there are fur
nished the sufficient ingredients for q
very imposing civic center. If l had been
called upon few months ago l could
probably have planned with comparative
ease grouping here of public structures
that would have given fine conventional
effect. But now the tall, slim, costly
structure of the International bank is
rising directly in front of the postoffice,
as If slapping 1t in the face, completely
screening a broad view of the structure,
and from Main street hiding even the
court house. 1t stands on exactly the
land that would most naturally have been
utilized for an open space around which
the public buildings should be grouped.
But since it is not my desire to present
plans that are beyond reason have not
for a moment considered suggesting that
1t be purchased and removed. / have
accepted itas one of the fixed conditions;
and it has at least the merit of rising
like a warning finger over the low struc-
lures all around it, as If to caution the
citizens of Los Angeles that II they de-
sire to gain big effects and to do big
things In the building of their city 1t is
not safe to delay the requirement of the
necessary land.
My plan contemplates, first. the extern
sion of Also street in a straight line to
Main. Also street In itself Is not attrac-
tive, but it is broad, arterial thorough
fare, carrying heavy traffic, particularly
by street car, to the east side and to
Pasadena. AS Also streets direct ex-
tension will bring 1t just to the north
corner of Commercial street and Main
there can be given to 1t at this poirt a
wide curving entrance which will empha-
size its Importance as a highway to the
east side.
The little area between the postoffice
and the jail, about half of which is now a
street, 1 recommend opening as a PIAZZA,
tc give the federal building better setting
and especially to oper to view its north
facade from New High street, whence
now only corner can be eeen.
I AS third change of street, / advise
the prolongation of New High street to
Broadway. The simpler way to do this
would be to make a curve; but far the
better way, If practicable, and 1 hope it
may be SO. will be to carry it straight
through, so that 1t shall meet Broadway
at First street.
For the site of the new city hall I have
selected the pat between Spring and
Main streets, now occupied by the Bullard
b ock, together with Market street, which
bounds this on the north, and with so
much of the land abutting on the north
side of Market as may be necessary to
give to the site the breadth required. AS
my plan in Its entirety contemplates the
requirement of all of the triangle be-
tween Market street and the intersection
Of Main and Spring, the latter addition
will not increase the schemes cost.
Unite Buildings
To unite the city hall with the court
house it is necessary to develop another
scheme, on another axis, which, while
actually Independent of the former, will
yet seem to be in connection with it by
intersecting It. At the, point of inter-
section should rise the city hall, which,
as a large structure could make the
necessary angle while Disgusting it, This
sought connection is attained by ncquir-
ing 80 much of the shallow block, now
and New High streets, as Is directly in
front of the east facade of the court
house. Upon this tract the west facade
of the city hail would center. There are
left private buildings to the right and
left of the cut.
Buena Vista street, running from the
Temple street front of the court house.
climbs step hill. and then on the north
side drops very abruptly down the bluff
to the level of Sunset boulevard. AS a
route for through travel this portion of it
Is practically useless. 1t happens that
in climbing the face of the hill to it's brow
before dropping down the street so cuts
into the bank that on one side the few
houses are high above 1t on a precipitous
terrace and on the other, or east side,
even before the big retaining wall has
been passed. are below it, becoming at
last like cliff dwellings, to be reached
only by descending flights of steps. From
Temple street to the hilltop, where this
part of the street practically ends, is two
blocks, and the steep bank which sepa-
rates Buena Vista street from New High,
though it is only a block from Main
street, is so little occupied by dwellings