The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-10-28
City Plan Commission
Asks For Better Town
CONTRIBUTED.


In the life Of the modern city the
importance Of city planning is funda-
mental. 1t Is a function which need
not be delegated only to city officials
! but should be shared alike by every
citizen. AS stock holders in the city
corporation each one should be vitality
| interested in the policies and plans OF
that corporation both, as to its present
necessities and to its future needs.
The city has a dual nature; it is
both business and social enterprise.
Both from a business and a social
standpoint, it is vast and complex. On
the business side, there are the indus
tries. great and small; the wholesale
and retail business, and the instru-
ments of business are the city's bust
ness streets. railroads, warehouses and
stores. On the social side, there is the
task Of providing houses for the citi-
zens, of feeding them, Of furnishing
them with their many necessities. their
! comforts and amusements; and the in
struments for these tasks are the
streets, the system Of public utility,
the parks and Fairgrounds, the schools
and libraries and the public and prt
vate buildings.
| We know that the purpose and use
fitness Of all these separate factors in
v
prosperous. intelligent and contented
with his home city; but we are lust
beginning to realize that this result is
obtained only by the proper relation Of
these many elements, one with anotE
| er, in community life. This relation
or unity does not come of itself, by
chance: it is the result only of careful
planning.
elimination Of Efforts.
The city planning commission is thu
elimination Of an effort TO unite in a
| small workable committee RESPONSE
BILE, representative citizenship. linked
together with the administrative and
legislative bodies Of the city govern
ment. Men of different vocations were
selected from different sections of the
city so that the commission is now
composed Of a lawyer, a manufacturer,
a minister Of the gospel. a plumber,
an ARCHITECTURAL engineer, a councilman
and a civil engineer.
Due to the eXigencies of the various
pursuits of the majority Of citizens.
they are afforded very little opDortun-
ity to secure data and information re-
lative to the various civic undertake
iings which are brought up from time
TO time. Consequently, one Of the
main objects Of this commission is o
act as publicity medium and with thu
cO?operation of the press to act as a
clearing house for ideas To inform
the citizens what other neighbOrins
cities are planning.
This information will tend to show
that We must enlarge our vision and
not be hermits in planning for our flu
ture. The citizens with this Informal
ton at hand, will be more competent
in forming unbiased opinions. These
questions should ho determined with
ont regard to politics, religion or per-
sOnal grievances whatsoever.
The other purpose Of this commits
sion is to. after a study of the data
which it has at hand concerning some
particular problem. outline its plan,
and make its recommendation to the
board of public works and the COM
mon council. When with the help
Of interested citizens. it will make an
effort to have the proper action taken.
Need More Workers.
This activity, like every other sig
nifcant one, needs more workers.
Every citizen needs to do his part;
every woman and child as we'll as
every man. Suggestions of any nature
pertaining to the Improvement of the
community is solicited by the city
planning commission. Thew realize
that many Of these civic undertakings
| will require considerable time to ma
terialize and that it viii require funds
! to mako any Improvement Even so
| it will improve the spirit Of the com
mUnity to keep the interest of the
| citizens active and alive to what its
! needs really are
This commission should he the nuc-