The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-05-09

9. ~--1r* ~ aAaN Is A-le o. ne S5l-lsCTs
Of Tacoma and sear1se / hare REFER
ed 10. is possible soush O. Tsnez
sfreet- Lst rs take Advantage Of the
epporunsty before ii Is 100 late L..
II paaa nor for city Of 81 a5sa- Lei
the rsst Of the Plea be sazs q the zd-
dress Of John Nola-L expert rssaae-
q toTns- delivered "a Washington. D.
c. az the ANIMAL meeting Of the
American C5vic assoczazErz- IL Is hop
% thzs ne riil oozs 10 HeoErs IN
the near future N J h
Nr p,sa Is so- The smaller places,
the to~ns and villages with ssopnls-
TIM ranging from 900 10 asuaa. or
eTsl M 10 sa@sa. There ara many
misconceptions about city planning.
IN. noae Il farther from The fact than
the nosiul that comprehensive plan
Ming * only for large cities AS mat
ter Of fact th= rsve-s= IS nearer the
truth. II big cities The conditions are
hxAi. 51elsssic. unfolding. Compre-
tsasive planning. especially with our
limited city charters and Inc hamper
ing Laws q our states. can hare as
ret bit little play in larger places.
At mos. Il must content itself vith re-
Herring only the worst conditions, anne
iio-a1ing Eserely the most acute forms
Of congestion, correcting only the
gravsst mistakes OF the nast. Wide,
nsnE-sided, Imaginative planning for
large American cities must be con-
fined for the present al least mainly
10 the extension of those cities. to
the improvement of suburban areas,
to the bette-ment of what are often
really separate towns on the out
skirts.
But with smaller towns and villages
the case is different To them compre-
hensiTe planning can render big and
lasting service For there is scarcely
anything in them that cannot be
changed. and most Of the territory
that is TO be built upon is still un-
touched The present town is only
the nucleus of the future city. In
them railroad approaches can be set
right, grade crossing eliminated: wat
er fronts redeemed for commerce or
recreation or both. open spaces Sc
cured IN the very heart OF things;
reasonable street plan can be made
and adequate highways established;
public buildings can be grouped in
some proper way and a park system,
true system, with all sorts OF we'll
distributed. well-balanced public
grounds can be outlined for gradual
and orderly development. And all
taese elements. indispensable sooner
or later 10 progressive community
can be had with relative ease and at
slight cost. AS We have given hereto
fore too much attention TO caring for
the mere wreckage Of society. and too
little toward establishing better So
cial order that would reduce that
wreckage, 50 We have expended too
much Of our energy IN merely think
inr OF the Ills that afflict our great
cities instead OF providing against
an unnecessary repetition of those
selfsame Ills in smaller places many
Of them 10 be the important cities of
tomorrow To cure is the way OF the
past 10 prevent the divine voice OF
the future
Then smaller towns are important
because of their great number In
1900, there we're over 100 place IN
the United States with a poulation
from $500 10 5000, and the aggre-
gate Of these tovng exceeded ten nil
lion. The figures Of the 1910 census
viii no doubt shoT vast increase.
and these figures viii probably ex.
coed the total Of all cities with
population q 100000 OF over. The
six great cities with 100000 or more
had By the same census $4,000 only
a population Of 100000 100000 less
than these smaller towns. How extern
slye. therefore, are the interests Of
these widely distributed smaller cities.
with more than ten million souls today
and the number and proportion stead
lily and rapidly increasing
The two important methods Of torn
and city planning are: 10 cities
planned in advance OF the settlement
of population, and ~ established
cities replanned or remodeled to meet
new conditions. The former method
has obviously great advantages ard
many cities intended primarily for
governmental, industrial or residen-
/ tial purposes have been so planned.
1t is method which needs wided Use.
Washington is the most notable fIus.