West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1909-09-09
PLANNING OF TOWNS
Some Of the Needs That Must Be
Considered.
STYLE OF STREET IMPORTANT

centers and No Straight Ones In
Residential Seotions-How Germans
Plan Cities,
In an address at Washington Fred
erick Law olmstcd, Jr.. son OF Amer
ica's greatest landscape architect, said
that our city ana town planning ordl-
narily aims at making new streets
connect with older ones so az TO form
continuous lines OF travel and TO mako
them wide enough TO avoid congestion
OF traffic. lie said this led TO me-
chanically standardized arrangement
OF streets and blocks with uniform.
straight streets covering the whole or
most OF the town. This leads TO "tho
concentration OF street traffic upon n
limited number or streets, causing dan
ger OF serious congestion and lncon.
Venience" unless such traffic Is provid
ed for.
Many will take issue with Mr.. Ohm
sted I'm his general statements. for nil
that he first said goes for naught I'm
face OF "unlcss provided for" In resi-
dencc sections we need and should
have streets laid out on anything but
straight lines but there are moro than
the residence parts I'm every city and
town that have TO be provided for"
and not the least OF these tx caring for
business traffic In an economic manner.
n consideration that tnccessarllye excludes
the aesthetic. What we must have
In business centers are new streets
connecting with older ones To AFFORD
continuous lines OF travel" We also
need uniform straight streets and IA
mechanically standardized arrangement
OF streets and blocks" Business de-
mands II. We further need "concen-
tration OF street traffic upon n limited
number OF thoroughfnrcs," but We
should provide these OF sufficient width
ana or such substantial surface that
they would fully satisfy all demands
upon them.
No one more fully believes I'm the
city beautiful movement than tho
writer; no one disllkes straight lines
and square corners more, but we must
not have curved streets I'm business
centers. The plans for the improve
ment OF the business portion OF Los
Angeles by Charles Mulford Robinson
provided for straight streets only and
aimed to have all beautiful by reason
OF simplicity and fully meeting all
the requirements OF traiIic. The prop
or planning OF the business sections
and the proper planning OF the resi-
dcnce portions OF any city or town are
two distinct though not necessarily
separate problems.
Now that nearly all OF our cities
and towns I'm southern California have
effectively tackled the planting OF
street trees those most TO the fore will
he looking to the next step toward the
Ideal. As TO what this step will be Is
briefly outlined I'm letter lately re-
celyed from j. III. Reed OF Riverside.
Cal. He writes: "Now that the prob
lem OF well planted streets IL nearing
solution we must look TO further Inn
provemont Of our city. If your city
beautiful experts did not cost so much
we could get you TO plan or suggest
block bcautifuP system OF landscape
Improvement or, better still, provide
for carrying out scheme OF cmbel-
llshment ana Improvement for whole
street.
aN'Nh - W. ihNf W UUI luI lttH
the cost would fall so lightly on each
Individual owner that every one could
find out how best TO improve his yard
so that It would be attractive I'm IT.
self and barmonize with the whole
scheme"
The city or town FIRST TO adopt this
method OF making the city beautiful
both as whole and I'm every detail
will not be able TO hide her eight un-
der bushel," but would soon become
famous for her unusual beauty both at
home and abroad.
The five most important points oh.
taincd by the German system OF city
or town planning are thus summed up
by Mfr. Olmsted, who last year visited
Europe for the purpose OF studying
city planning:
First.-A reasonably good provision
OF main thoroughbred well planned
and well equipped
SecOnd.-An increasingly liberal and
equitable distribution OF small parks
and Fairgrounds as well as numerous
small interesting squares.
Third.-A good distribution Of excel
lent public building sites, and on many
OF them some very interesting public
buildings
FOurth.-Every notable facilities for
commercial and manufacturing dis
trlcts IN connection with water fronts
and railways. When the city plan
lays out n district with a special view
70 manufacture, it does not just cut it
up into the standard streets and blocks
and then leave the railways. the man
nfacturers and teamsters 20 struggle
with the transportation problem. but
begins by laying out the necessary
rights Of way Tor the railroad facill-
ties and provides long rows OF fac
tory sites, with railroad sidiugs on ono
side and streets on the other
Fifth.-Dcvclopmcnt Of the newer
districts in q less crowded and much
more homogeneous manner than I'm the
past
Here iu America, ne says, we go on
complaccntly pcrpetuating our old mis-.
takes long after We have recognized
them, preparing over again in our
suburbs without material variation the
same conditions that have given rise
70 results we dcplorc I'm the older parts
Of our cities and townt Los Angeles
Times
Watch baby's bowels till the frostg
come. Dr. Fahrncy's Tccthing Symp
Keeps them in good shape sample free