The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-06-16
COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING IS
 NEEDED FOR SMALLER CITIES. DECLARES EXPERT JOHN NOLEN

cues IS to replan early enough to
 meet the increased demands of the
 future, to readjust as may still be | done, existing developments, and by
 skill and foresight to adopt such plans
 as are necessary for the newer out1y- l ing areas soon to be built upon.
 Number, Population and Importance i of Smaller Cities
 l The planning and repIanning of the | smaller cities takes on added impor-
 tance when we consider how great is
 their number, the population affected,
 and their relative increase. Of the | total population of the United States,
 according to the census of 1910, more | than one-haIf, or 53.7 per cent, is still
 rural; only 46.3 per cent is urban. Of i this 46 per cent more than one-half,
 or 25.5 per- cent of the total popula- l tion, is included in towns and cities with a population ranging from 2,500 1 to 5,6O0, and only 208 per cent in
 the larger cities with population of 1 from 125,OOO to 100000 or more. Moreover, the relative increase of | population is greatly in the smaller
 cities. especially those with from 5O,- | 900 to 250,000, being Al per cent | against 32 per cent for cities of r. | 100000 or more. The number of 1 places, of course, grows steadily with the decrease in population. For ex- l ample, of cities of 100000, there are | only three, of from 50O,O00 to 1,OOO,- | 900, five; of 25O,000 to 5OO,OOO, II; 1 of 100000 to 25O,O0O, 31; of 5O,OOO, 120; and of 2,5OO to 5000, 2,176. Git l ies with g. population of 100000 or over number only 5o.- It should be pointed out frankly, however, that the choice for this dis cussion of the cities of 100000 class is arbitrary, and it's main merit is in. the attempt to focus attention upon the advantages of early action in all matters that have to do with the plan 1 ming of physical improvements, which have as their purpose provision not only for the present, but the future Looked at in this way, cities of 5OO,- coo population have advantages over those of 100000; cities of 25O,000| over those of 500,000; cities of our 100000 class over those that are larg- CT; and villages and towns over cities of the class which we have selected for special discussion. It may be said lit has been said-that the financial capacity of cities to make improve ments increases more rapidly than the population, and perhaps as rapidly as the cost of those Improvements. Fig
 ures would seem to show that the cost of city land does not actually in- crease as rapidly as the population, and in so far as that factor is con- cerned, the contention appears to be we'll supported. On the other side, however, must be placed the enor-
 nous cost often of buildings and other 1 Improvements which are necessarily destroyed, the great difficulty in get | ting city government to make changes involving the destruction of existing property, and the heavier burdens of taxation which larger com l munities often must bear, simply be- cause they are large. The cost of planning itself is, of course relative | ly, an absurd1y small item, but the advantages obviously are with the places. nf hensive character for a village, town
 or minor city might be made for from $1,00O to $5,0OO, while for alarger place they would cost, perhaps from $10,000 to $50.o0O or more, accord ing to their difficulty and compre- hensiVeness. For his remarkable plan
 of Washington, LiEnfant was paid $667.6e. Need of Advisory State Planning
 Board
 Progress in planning for small places under our present form of civic organization is, I believe, apt to be slow unless cities can have the ad- vice and service of qualified men. This would seem to require some form of state advisory organization, a clear ing house of experience somewhat along the lines which have been here tofore advocated by Thomas Adams Town Planning AdVisore, Commission of Conservation, Canada. Two things would seem to be necessary. In the first place, a state planning board or department of municipal affairs; and in the second, the early adoption by l cities, towns and even villages and
 rural districts. of safeguarding regu- 1ationsf and the preparation of sur
 veys and general plans.
 Like many state boards of health the proposed state planning board of | commission dealing with city govern cOnI6 he Ia nJU a dxTiS
 one exception might be in dealing with these matters which concern two or more communities. Such a plan ming board would be organized to se- cure:
 . CD The Identification of the admin istration of public hea1th,. housing, highways, and other matters with broad city planning projects.
 CD The employment of technically qualified men in dealing with the phy- slcal, sanitary, social and financial problems of cities.
 (3) The proper regulation of local finances and local expenditures (4) The adjustment of franchises connected with public utilities.
 t5) The application of right pnin- cip1es in regard to the extension Nof | m unicipaI boundaries or the co-oper- ation between adjacent communities Ut would be a mistake not to recog-
 nize the objection that prevails just HOW OH lne part or those who adVO-
 cate more home rule for cities. to
 state boards anad commissons, even of an advisory nature. But after all the purpose of such a state board. as is here suggested, is not to check or limit local government, but to help it to be- efficient and economical It
 should be noted, however, that even with such state board or department good city planning would still depend largely upon the efficiency of the city government and the successful orea- nization and utilization of the best forces of the community, both public and private. How such efficiency
 and cooperation can most easily be
 secured is, I fear, beyond the scope of this paper, alth hough very closely