The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-05-10
OF MARY VALE ROAD, IN
NOIRNEyIiIE.

fire lines,. and the securing. by the
transportation of freight by canal, |
railroad. subway, etc.
. 2. The determination by the muni- |
cipality of the districts or zones With !
in which houses of a given height may
be erected, the number OF houses which
may be erected. per acre, the site to
be covered. and consequently the dem
sity of population per acre.
3. The securing By the municipality
of the proper means of transportation
of the people.
open spaces. parks and Fairgrounds
In anticipation OF the needs OF Il grow
ing community.
To secure these provisions excess
condemnation is essential-that is the
condemninE OF more than the area to
contemplated. so that ultimately the
city makes no expenditure for land to
be used for public purposes
Town Planning.
The way in which town planning
protects the working man may be illus
trated by a concrete example.
In 1905 eight lots. 10ox200 feet, on
the upper West Side in New York
above ono Hundred and Fiftieth Street,
were sold for $4,000 and shortly re-
sold for $4,000. Unless the present
owner OF this property5is to lose on the
lots must pay as rent on the land re-
gardless OF the rent paid for any build
ing constructed thereon. $500 year
Cat 6 per cent?. more than they would
have paid had this transaction not been
made with reliance upon the antici-
patcd use TO which the land might be
put. If used for tenement PURPOSES
not over fifty families at most--225 In
on this plot--20,000 square feet--and
with this maximum each family would
be obliged TO pay s12 year additional
rent as a result. of this one speculation.
In every American city. Is 1t better
to restrict speculation in this way
! by the action of the government, or to
lrecompense the cupidity OF the land
I charity for poor families? In all our
cities the. increased expenditure Is es-
sential. II the welfare of the citizens
is to be conserved from 1904 to 1907
The assessed land value of Greater
| New York increased in round figures
| S5o6.132.000. The expenses OF the city
and county government for this ter
ritory during this same period were
| 1857 ,045, 10000 tho enormous increase
| of over s506.000000, the city. secured
| IN taxes on land only about $4,000, 900.
| 1t is significant too that the largest
percentage Of increase. occurred in the
| borohghs outside OF Manhattan in the
1 borough of Queens, a developing resi-
dental section which increased 70 per
| cent.
Must Purchase Land.
It is this significant fact which
leads the committee on congestion OF
population to put In bold placards in
It's exhibit: Cant your city afford
needed improvements" What share
of the increase in the value Of land is
the city getting?" IF 1t got It's full
-Iford all the schools, all the parks, all
1.-THE Fairgrounds. all the hospitals, all
1.-The libraries, all the public improve
.Iments?"
'E"should charity try, to supply these In
.lstead Of the city? Is any charitable
trent for poor families because some
one has speculated in land?"
j No lesson is more clearly taught by
1.-THE experience OF foreign cities than
I that the municipality must purchase
!. large areas OF land, or that they must
IIby taxation secure just proportion
3 of the movement Of land
5 Mr., w. II. Lever, the brilliant head
z of the firm which manufactures Sum
light Soap, and who has made his
/. model village at Port Sunlight known
: throughout the world. points out that
4 the real remedy for congestion. is dis
persion from the centre and develop
: ment OF suburban Arrears.
"Priynte enternr Prise ennn not aoeompl1 5
OF successful dispersion depends upon
the possession Of three republics. the
three requisites arc cheap money, cheap
n land and cheap rapid transit"
How They Are Doing It.
/ The best experts IN municipal ad-
ministration in Germany urge that the
city buy land. and 1t is very sisniti-
cant that the Prussian government
which is not usually regarded as radi-
. cal or socialistic, issued Joint re-
script Of the minister's Of the interior
a trade and commerce. religion and az
! riculture, making three recommends
j First, that towns should build fol
!. their own employees; second, that the.
VI should appoint housing societies %
velop means of communications. They
! then deal With tho land policy OF
(which they recommend, as follows:
Firstly, q suitable land policy 70
Q ltnWns Is OF Very great stmnartanaas J