The San Francisco call., 1908-10-03
PROJECT RESULT
of CITY'S GROWTH
Consolidation OF Towns on
Northern Part of Peninsula
Declared Necessary

-:IS06 slas: now taken dennite shape in
p Iae. fDEn Of i project 10 extend the
%. Boundaries. OF. san Francisco south
ward :intce SaD Aateo county. The pro-
posal has COME as ting expression of a
:- natural ces5re- TO gnify thaf which is
physically, economically and politically
one: It's a subject thai has appealed
10 residents Of the outlying sections as
!. Egell. as. TO-. citizens OF san Francisco
who Eeljeye that the artificial barriers
" high -feStajct the growth OF the city
shop1d: be removed
=: The proposal. does not come as a
=. szdsie1. Suggestion, but rather as
~coheret e. development of the basic
: a5ssdvapCed: two years ago, that the
F. fi7se.- had arrived 20 adjust conditions
.-te1 meet q changed situation with re-
+. -spect.- to san Francisco and adjacent
I'd s4rfcts-s "A campaign was launched
= fora 60 reafeT san Francisco, to bring
together the related municipalities Of
5. s3e- :a@sy.- region. This ambitious un-
;.dertaking found its advocates and its
pnp0nenrss. but the discussions which
IT provoked emphasized the necessity
or an IEirrediate movement 10 make
definite sntitT OF the cities and dis
trjcts ON tie nOTthern part OF the pen
: insula>,:
=. The project is directly traceable to
the big disaster Of two years ago. At
that .tfn2e eli that could be considered
san francisco proper was confined
within .tha city. limits. The peninsula
: was. growing. but the dividing line
WAS: clears. and pnmistaka5le- After
the. disaster the homeless found abid-
ing places in the Outlying sections.
Families who had crowded lower How
ard. Folsom. Bryant and Brannaa
streets. found more desirable homes in
the hills that circle the city. There
they found fresh air. garden space,
available land at moderate prices and
there they chose TO stay IN the nat
5ural- expansion that followed settle
sments- have blossomed on the ridges,
along the slopes and in the meadows,
gntil a. single city stretches its length
along the peninsula
NEW -RAIEROAD LINES
Within the last two. years two new
p railroad lines have extended into this
growing territory. The Southern Pa
else. has opened the Bay Shore line
and as :tllOugh by magic homes have
arisen along its course. Homes have
TgUftiplied into settlements, settlements
into .toiwns and towns into cities un-
n today the train passes from one
only TO. enter another. So populcus
has become this section, which few
years ago was little more than an Un-
inhabited tract, that the railroad COM
.pany has-:found il necessary to pro-
vide a local service TO accommodate
the traffic.
threading. its way along the cliffs.
the .Ocean Shore railway has made
available TO San Francisco what was
until very recently q stretch Of dairy
and. farm land. These facts are too
we'll known TO require emphasis or
detailed explanation By an arbitrary
easyrangement, put into effect many years
.s--
san Fs'anciscans, people whose inter
ests~ lie iD-.1he metropolis. are foreign
d. territory, cenlTected by artificial ties
10 San: NateO county. This is the con
dItioH switch the new movement seeks
70 remedy.
1T requires but cursory examination
10 ascertain that physically, economic
ally and politically these suburban dis
TFIcts- are part and parcel OF san Fran
cisco I'm regard TO the transbay cities,
. there may be room for argument. but
as far as the northern part of the
peninsula is concerned, there appears to
De no doubt
: A look q the map VIII show that the
line marking the southern boundary OF
San. Francisco cuts directly through
iaage Of bills tributary to this city It
pierces one Of the lakes Of the ATerced
rancho. By a still stranger freak il
cuts III twain two OF the budding cities
Of the peninsula.
In its. recent development. Ocean
View has expanded into san Mateo
county: AcrQss on the bay shore, the
new town of VIsitacion owes a double
sallegiance, bisected by the county line
Districts ..n- the hills are cut asunder
by the arbitrary division.
ECONOMIC CONSIDERATION
o.. While the physical absurdities Of the
present. arrangement are apparent at
q glanre- Of far greater Importance are
the ec0nonlic considerations. San Fran
cisco has two alternatives. IT may be-
come a city Of tenements like New
York or il may become a city OF homes.
OF gardens and fresh air. With re-
stFictes boundaries. the tenement de-
:EeloPment- is inevitable. Its shadow is
already here This is shown plainly
by the recent enactment of a ordi-
nance Regulating tenement house con
.struction..The time has now come when
TIE CRY must decide Tire working
anea and women who labor in san
+ fsncisco want to live in San Fran
CISCO, Land close in is high and a home
an expensive undertaking. The tene-
lnent, with its crowding- and dangers
20 health, offers a ready and disas-
tto*ls -Solutlon- On the other hand
.3and IN. the outlying sections. with close
train and trolley connection may be
-. .-A ~ lAeaSNN a. a very SLlal ugure. That
means "a comfortable home. easy ac-
cess TO business, but il must mean
alienation unless the city expands its
beunoa5ies TO meet the situation.
In the outlying sections are such
cities and settlements as Baden: Soufb
City, with its vast manufacturing
QlantsS Colma. San Bruno; Visitacion
the site. Of the new freight yards of
the Southern Pacific; Millbrae. San Ma
teo and Burlingame, with their beau (
tiful residences; Sala6a, Brighton. Bur
fngtons Rockaway. Granada and San
Pedro, beaches with growing popula
tions, while on the crest of the hills
within stones throw Of the san Fran |
cisco line flourish the new settlements I
OF Hillcrest and Vista Grande-all in
reality part and parcel Of San Fran 1
cisco, their residents coming to bust
ness every morning and returning
every evening
BOUNDARY Is ARTIFICIAL
At no part Of the peninsula is the
need Of Encouragement of the bound 4
ary more apparent than along the bav (
shore cutoff. Every day a big labor 4
ing. population comes to work to re- 1
turn IN the evening. made foreigners
.tp san Francisco by this artificial 4
boundary arran cement.
AS long as these settlements and cit
les are forced TO remain in a separate |
jurisdiction they viii be connelled 70 !