Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-06-19
Show City's Progress at Big
Forum Meeting Here
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of the city would only look around
they could see what the Board of
Trade is doing. and referred to the
bus lines. Many people are being
carried to this city by the new bus
lines and IL a merchant will only
realize that these people are custom
ers and that he is bound to get back
what he had paid into the Board of
Trade, it car be announced at the
next meeting hat they hav one new
member for every man in the board.
Should Have 500 Members
At the close of Mr.. Reynolds re-
port President Madsen informed the
forum that they have one of the
State of New Jersey. n hat they
should have at least 500 new men,
bers to support Mr.. Hilton, for he
cannot do the most efficient work il
he does not ave a large membership.
Ingvard Greisen reported for the
forum committee. He informed the
members that it was necessary for
thirty-five members present at the
forums to take part and listen to the
big things and interesting talks the
committee is planning for the next
series.
Bus Lines
John w. Kelly spoke briefly on the
bus lines and what a big thing they
are or the city, and pointed out that
ny member of the Board of Trade
ould be well paid If only for the
bug p'es. They are making a lot of
mont Neaid Mr.. Kelly, but are under
q hel Expense. In order to make
them t:cessful che pointed out that
theySs ,uLd be operated from points
where it is hard to get transportation
into the city, and the roads should
be placed in such shape hat the wear
Ind tear is less on the bus. He adj
vocated bus lines for certain sections
of Staten Island which are now with
out e of transportation.
At this point President Madsen
brought up the main topic of the
evening, that of City Planning. He
told of the work done by Peter c.
Olsen, the Board of Trade, City Plan
ming committee and the EVENING
NEWS in making a city plan possible
for Perth Amboy. Mr.. Olsen was
then introduced and spoke on the
subject as follows:
Until very recently, few if any
American cities have taken thought as
to along what lines their city should
grow inc progress. Perth Amooy is
no exception l am sorry to say. !
have beer a resident of the City of
CITY <ALlOOy SllCc OOyiOOut hdNt
watched it grow and expand to what Il
now is n I do not think of a better
way to outline the urgent necessity of
city planning for the future than call
ing to your attention to the past mis-
take Or rather errors of omission
which could or might have been
avoided if twenty five or thirty years
ago. Perth Amboy had had a city
plan, built up with a little imagina-
ton and forethought-but the fac. is
our residents of that time did not
dream of the possibility of the pres
eEt Perth Amboy as little as some of
us perhaps believe that we will double
our size in comparatively few years.
The Perth Amboy of twenty-five
or thirty years ago is a pleasant
memory to many of us a dreamy little
city of eight or nine thousand inhabi-
tants, of industries we possessed the
coal docks, terra Gotta factories, ship
yard. emery mill and cork factory.
Practically every street unimproved'
and very few severed. We now have
more than $4,000 population, our
main business or arterial streets are
unchanged, only we have pushed them
further out in one or two cases-our
citizens living on the Hill in the west
ern section have no better means of
reaching the heart of the city than
they had thirty or forty years ago.
Smith street, planned to serve a small
town, is now the business center of q
$4,000 or more population, not includ-
ing our suburban population, besides
being burdened with an inadequate
single track trolly system with a
switch directly in front of our most
important railroad station, often
blocks and preventing traffic to and
from the station.
Jefferson Street.
Jefferson street, on which is locat-
ed some of the best buildings in the
city, Y. M. G. A. included, is blocked
on the west by the Central Railroad
of New Jersey and on the east is cut
in two by the abnormally long block
on State street. Market street is
blocked on its west end by a large
factory-on u water front from
Smith street south the street is so mar
row there a truck can barely turn
around and 1t end nowhere-and at
this point I want to make 1t clear
hat the status of the much discussed
Rarttan avenue on our south shore,
this street which our city possessed
and is now under water, was made
about sixty feet wide at the Central
Railroad Bridge n u n to a point
about five feet wide at a point near
the gas works
These things and many others did
not trouble u citizens of thirty or
forty or more years Ago.. but if they |
had spent a few dollars on a plan of
the city providing for growth, our
generation would have been saved the
many thousand dollars we will have to |
spend the coming a to make
things right.
What is a City Plan?
The lady or gentlemen who wrote |
i think more or less misunderstood. |
I want to take a little of your time to
read to you a letter which was printed
in the Perth Amboy EVENING |