Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-11-21
SUBURBIA, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
in ALL ITS INFINITE VARIETY
Living in the Open Pleasant Personal
DisspationWil the Future See One Big City One Big
Suburb?-The ENDLESS Ioys Of nRoadtownn
Bv KENNETH MACCOwAN

! II GRACE, so far as we moderns can learn,
IL never commuted. He loved his Sabine
farm with the passion OF denizen of the
! Main Line. Luxurious as It was 1t rejoiced
in no more Of "all the modern conveniences'
| than any dwelling in Jenltintown or Cynwyd.
! Yet he did not desert It daily for the marts
and theatres Of Rome. And so there was no
/ commuters crisis in those days over a
/ threatened raise In railroad rates.
But IL the commuter and his problems are
n very modern matter they are important
and absorbing in inverse ratio to their age.
While the ordinary citizen feels that he
wants a bit Of open air and acts on that
feeling, the professors are busy backing him
up with the best of reasons. University stu
dents can take no course In city government
without lengthy disquislton on the evils
OF urban housing conditions and the neces-
slty Of drawing the poor out into the suburbs
by lowering the transit rates and increasing
the facilities. Some of the professors find
themselves indorsing municipal ownership
as n means of bringing down fares and d.
recting, deliberately and wisely, the planting
OF the human saplings out in the open where
there is a real chance of life
At this point, however-as the professors
are forced to admlt-the real estate man
steps in. If he owns property In the slums,
paternalsm." II he owns property in the
suburbs he puts up his price when rapid
transit brings his land into habitable range
Meanwhile the city has to face the fact that
It has reduced the assessed value of its own
urban area, and increased that of outside
villages. Not every city is so lucky Phlla-
delphia in having large portions of the
suburbs" within its own limits.
Comfortable Country Life
But what does the commuter care? The
man who discovers that he wants a little |
clean air to breath or n bit OF garden to
chase the bugs Off, sets himself down by the |
side of a railroad or the end of subway, |
and enjoys life. His is the pleasure of green !
things and a look-off. He mess round |
with bit Of land and produce string bean
crop or a tennis court. over there a mile
away he has a golf course. If he owns a
car, the inviting country roads run right up
to his door And at night he sleeps-after he
gets used to the unearthly quiet.
Just now sleeping porches stylish as
we'll as hygenc. But this time the style
seems to be the result of a genuine liking,
and the ends Of science are secured by the
ordinary prejudices of man for making him
self comfortable The suburbante tries the
screen porch some hot summer night and
after that he is an open-air victim. His re-
sistance to the bad atmosphere of the aver
age bedroom is so broken down that one
night indoors means a head" in the morn
ing. Even the city fellow is beginning to
try it, The result In health-well, ask any
specialist in lung troubles.
Social Sides
OF course there are drawbacks. Butchers
and grocers and even department stores
aren't so easy to get at, Schools and doctors
are a little of problem. Worse still, all
that communal fellowship of the city goes
Man loses a bit as a social
animal. Certainly, theatre-going is placed
under n handicap. Museums and libraries
are not to be so easily enjoyed. They are
still accessible by long distance, If only the
whole population doesn't move out or II
those who remain are good enough to pay
'or these luxuries OF the commuters But It
IS such things as we'll as the still laggard
ransit facilities, that give the city its charm.
Back in Centennial days, some now name
ess person took time by the forelock with
Utopia that pictured something very close
o present suburban development, He had
lirships ornamenting the skies and supple
nenting the trains, and he didn't dream,
With Director Taylor of high-speed subways.
But in the main his outlines were right. He
lrew present-day Philadelphia.
In the same WY, a lot of people nowadays
re busy with the future OF suburbia The
esults are delightfully."- and encouraglngly
iffuse Some of them see a reaction to the
tiles again. Water-made electricity will