The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-04-02

important Everything else demands
upon ther, They control and regulate
tho development in the centre OF a
town or suburb and ramify TO tho re-
motest corner. Moreover. no other
feature Is 80 permanent, no other so
difficult and costly 10 change. Streets
also have the most direct and init
mate influence upon the economic. sani-
tary, and aesthetic development OF city
life. Therefore. every decision witS re-
gard TO the street Is important-its
location. it's width. It's right subdi-
vision into roadway and sidewalk, and
its furnishing with trees lighting
standards and street signs The .wo
most urgent moods OF suburban street
planning are greater differentiation
In the width OF streets according to
their use and an apportionmcnt OF any
given width SO AZ to meet more sue
cessfully the demands OF travel. COM
b!ned with duo regard 70 the appear
ance OF the street.
For main highways. for streets
which carry business traffic, for car
line streets, or for streets which are
pleasure boulevards, we need greater
width. On the other hand. residence
streets. especially those for minor resi-
denccs with smaller lots, may often
have narrower ways than is now Gus
tonary. Even where the street itself
is wide, the roadway may be made
narrower. 1t is becoming increasingly
the practice In residential sections to
reduce the roadway TO twenty four or
twenty six feet between curbs or plant
ing spaces
What is true OF stree, planning for
suburbs is equally true OF tho arrange
ment of public and quasi public build
ings, OF the reservation and location OF
Fairgrounds and local parks, of the
acquisition and Improvement OF nat
ural features, such as ponds. lakes,
rivers. hills and wooded places. and
the laying out Of houses or groups OF
houses IN such way as TO be con-
venient in use and at the same time To
form agreeable street compositions
suburban town planning no longer
rests upon a mere theory of what
should be. In Europe, especially in
England, we have notable examples OF
finished work. Among these the Hamp-
stead Garden suburb OH the outskirts
OF London is re-eIninent. In America
the development has been more eXclu
sively In private hands, and yet in
some instances II has been notably
we'll done; In fact as we'll done as in
Europe. Mention should be made espe-
cially OF Biltmore. North Carolina: Iio-
land Park. Baltimore; the Country Club
District. at Kansas City: Myers Park,
Charlotte: Ginter Park, here ut your
own doors, and more recently Forest
Hills Gardens. on Long Island, which
Is being promoted as a demonstration
OF what can he done. by the Russell
Sage Foundation Homes Company.
This sort OF suburban town plan
ming is worth attention, because it rep
rcsents new social ideal. II is phi
lanthropy, social and civic service and
good business all combined in one. The
real estate companies and the CO.
operative movements which are en-
gagged In this kind of land development
deserve public encoura cement, for they
look for their gains not mainly from
the increased values OF land, not from
the so-called unearned increment. but
as manufacturers who are taking raw
materials and turning them into
new and more serviccable product"