The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-12-10
CITY PLANNING.

CITY PLANNING.
President Mcvey's address at the
Commercial club dinner yesterday cv-
ening was informative, suggestive and
helpful. There are two ways OF treat
ing the problem Of civic betterment.
One way is to deal with 1t in a hyper
critical spirit. to go at the thing to be
improved hammer and tongs, rip it to
pieces, shy bricks at it, heap it with
ridicule. and hold up its various de-
fects as horrible examples of things
fccttve. It's tendency is to make Il
community fighting mad, and when
people are angry they are apt to do
something. II it is assumed that the
situation is as bad as it can possibly
be 1t is safe to make the people as
angry as possible, for. under those
conditions, no matter what is done it
will be for the better. That, however.
is a ort of remedy TO be applied only
to desperate cases
The other way is to indicate ONE
thing of what has been done along
the desired line elsewhere. to hold up
the ideal to be sought rather than all
ways to dwell on the mistakes that
have been made. 1t was In this man
ner that President McNey dealt last
night with the very important prob.
lem Of the building Of a city with re-
gard to It's beauty AZ we'll as it's utility.
And this name OF approach ie for
US The useful and the helpful one, be-
cause u situation is not the deeper-
ate one which calls for the desperate
remedy, but rather the case Of a. COM
munity which has made, and is maxi
ing very appreciable progress along
the desired lines, whose face is turn
ed in the right direction, and whose
tendencies are largely along the right
line.
Much Ut the matter in the address
was. and was intended to be illustra-
tive Of a principle rather than Of
Tered as a set Of examples to be fol-
lowed slavish,y. AS was stated. age
has much to do with the development
Of q city. and this is one of a. number
Of things which many Of the Eu-
ropean cities cited have which We
have not yet reached . Among other
things which may be mentioned in
which these cities have advantages
which we have not attained are size.
wealth. stability Of population, and
the development Of the desire and
the habit Of individual ~benefaction.
All Of these things are growths which
may be promoted by the right treat
ment, but there must be time for. their
full fruitsee.
Again. the city which grows by nat
ural processes out Of the soil. as it
were, cannot copy the plans which
give such beautiful results in those
cities which have been established
as the homes of special industries. like
tho English soap~makers' city, or to
demonstrate the landscape POSSIBLE.
ties Of the ideal city, as in the Russell
Sage foundation experiment on Long
Island. or az in the single tax city re-
ferred to, In all Of which cases the
complete plan preceded the creation
of any part of the city, or the devel.
opHnent of any Of its community life.
Yet these illustrations, both from the
medieval cities Of the old world, with
their historic setting. and in the mod
ern and model cities which have
sprung up in a night, like Alladin's
palace, have a decided value to the
normal community which seeks to
better its own surroundings.
We do not need to initiate the city
hall Of this city, nor the statue Of that
We cannot, if we would, nor can we
move our buildings and replan our
city according to the designs. Of some
expert authority on such things. Blu,
We can see the beauty Of the properly
placed and designed building in an.
other city. and the knowledge of its
beauty and its appropriateness ma,
help us. when we come to build the
things needful for us, to take into
account the architectural and land.
scape possibilities Of our own city
and to make each. unit, SC far as pos.
sible, become a harmonious part Of
the whole.
President Mcvey has furnished gu,
people with food for earnest thought
And he is right in saying that imme'
date attention should be given to the
study Of this important question, anc
that immediate action should be taker
toward the working out Of such de-
signs az are attainable, and as are hes,
fitted to the needs of u community
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