Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-05-28
SOL WING OUR GREATEST NEED

Houses for the a Of moderate income to live in are needed to-
day more than anything else, perhaps, in the development OF the city
How can we ever expect to take care of our future growth when Ill tne
big things that are now under way mater1alze IL we cahho' ho"S '0
m who are already employed heref
Manufacturers and other employers have the greatest difticulty
in keeninp good men in their employ because of the lack of housing ia
c1ities II is not so hard getting men to come here to work, u lei
they begin to look about for a home to which to bring their family
they throw up their hands in despair and leave at the first opportunity
In Gee a position elsewhere where the housing proDdem ID hI 'o
acute.
Not only re there no houses in Perth Amboy to be had at a rea-
sonable rent-or at any rental at all, for that matter-but the suburbs
r also filed up to the capacity of the housing accommodations N
even if they were not filled up, the transportation problem enters MO
the situation in a mostdiscouragng manner. Thereare plentyof aca
houses and consequently low rents down the Camden q AmDoy an
road toward Hightstown and it is a very desirable section OF the state
to live in. but not only are the railroad facilities poor in that direction
but the carfare is so high that the money saved In rent IS quickly eaten
up in transportation charges.
But Perth Amboy has got a problem on her hands in this housing
matter that must be met if the city is to continue to advance. me
problem is an exceptionally difficult one because not only have we not
the houses. but we have little space left in which to build them. We are
speaking now of a class of houses that appeal to the great middle class
working man. the man with a salary of from thirty to forty dollars a
week who desires a pleasant and quiet neghborhood, a house with at
least a grass plot in front and room for a small garden in the rear-in
short, a place that he can truthfully call home. For such a man Perth
Amboy has little IT nothing to offer and the city Is the loser thereby
Not only does the city lose a most desirable class OF citizen, but the
tradesmen and merchants suffer in the loss of good customers.
1t will not do to treat this matter with indifference. 1t is too serl
Gus to be ignored. If Perth Amboy expects to grow and prosper 1t
must be prepared to take care of the men attracted here by her INDUS
tries and enterprises.
But what is to be doneY Ask the first dozen men that you meet
and they will all have a different idea to suggest, if they have given
the matter any thought at all. There is a lack of plan or policy as to
how to proceed. But while we are fumbling about suggesting first one
solution and then another we are getting nowhere and the city is sui
fering more and more every day. In fact, it is slipping and unless
someone takes a firm grip in the situation before very long we will
find ourselves going backward instead Of forward.
The EVENING NEWS believes that the best way to go about the
matter is to hire a expert municipal engineer to make a complete
sssay Of the whole city and plan out a desirable residential sec
tion so located as to not interfere with the future industrial and COM
xercal growth of the city and properly connected with the business
and industrial sections with adequate transportation facilities so as to
carry the men to and from their work and the women to and from the
stores to do their shopping.
In this connection it is quite likely that it would be found desir-
able to annex the whole of Woodbridge township into a greater Perth
Amboy. With the limits thus extended, the expert could go off to-
ward IseTn o. Colonia and lay out an ideal residential section in a
beautiful country where land is comparatively cheap and where a
boulevard or parkway 100 or more feet wide could connect
this section with the present business and industrial district
of Perth Amboy. In the center Of this boulevard would
run a double track fast line trolley giving quick and CON
yenient transportation. 1t would not take long to have such a boule-
ward lined with substantial buildings and, with the streets branching
off from it f filed with modest, but attractive homes of the man of mod
crate means, the city would be in a position to grow rs never before
Such a suggestion as this may seem like a dream, but it will be a
dream only as long as we sit idly by and do nothing to make 1t a real-
municipal expansion being carried out on a much more elaborate
scheme than this. 1t is the big thing to do if We are to make Perth
OF course, this does not solve the need of the hour-the necessity
of providing homes for the me- who have positions in Perth Amboy
today, but who can find no place to bring their families. However, I'M
less we start now to develop some scheme on an extensive scale the
problem will never be adequately solved. We will always be confronted
with a lack of homes and when the opportunity arrives for Perth Am
boy to really do something worth while in the way of development
she will be unable to take advantage of the opportunity because of a
lack Of foresight.
Now is the time to get a city plan and map out a scheme for de-
velopment that will cover a long period of years. With such a plan
the city could advertise it all over the country and let the world know
that Perth Amboy is on the map and is worthy of the name, Pace
making City.
A great opportunity is now offered for doing something really
worth while for Perth Amboy. With the city on the threshold of great
things, such as the New York port development the belt line railroad,
the free port proposition, the state ship canal and the million dollar
bridge across the Raritan, ther els q chance to make Perth Amboy a
great metropolis. The future offers so much for us that the only way to
take advantage of it inteligently is to get a real city plan that will
make it possible to work with the sole object Of building a city that will
be as near the ideal as it is possible to make it in this age in which we
are living.
Observations