Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-04-18

FIRST. A L A TO GO BY

most essential that we havea plan to go by. This is not a new SuO'ee'
for the EVENING NEWS. We have advocated a city plan o 'el
years. The address at the Board of Trade forum yesterday orinsS U~
matter once more prominently before the public
lust as the speaker said yesterday, a woman in making a dreSS'
first has a pattern o a plan for the dress or else the result OF her la0O~
,vo,,d be hardly fit to wear. A man building a house, first gets a plan
and then builds accordingly. A salesman going out to sell goods maps
out a plan of campaign. In establishing a new business a DEFINITE pN"
is settled upon or else the business can hardly succeed
What would be thought Of the manufacturer if he should erect
factory without a plan. He would have his power mousse IN III Gnu
and the workshop in another, the office would be here and the foundry
there. Soon he would find that the plant was losing money because
Of the inconvenience of it all. When he came to make additions II
wouId be impossible to do SO and the outcome would be the tearing
down Of the whole plant and rebuilding according to a carefully LAID
out plan.
It seems that almost everything has a plan excepting a munich
pality. The average American city just grows As one street becomes
filed with houses another is opened. When a sewer is neeoed " "
put down; streets are paved and buildings erected wherever there
happens to be a vacant place without regard to the fitness OF things OF
Of the convenience.
Then. when the city becomes a great metropolis it is found neces
sary to tear down a great many buildings in order to provide Tor wha
should have been provided for in the beginning. Sewers nave 'o DC
reconstructed because they were originally built for but n street
whereas az the city has developed many other streets have tapped into
it. So it goes. |
Wide awake municipalities are beginning to wake up tt the TACT
that a plan is lust as essential for the development of a city as it is for
any other project. After all, a municipality is one great mnuNii"
enterprise. Why shouldn't it be handled in the same manner tha'
other industrial establishments are handledf
Perth Amboy is on the eve of great things. The port of New York
dsvelonment with its belt line railroad terminating at this point is one
Of the biggest projects before the nation today. The city should De
rsnar 70 pet the best advantage from this railroad. What is our
rrAn1rr what have we to offer to the harbor commission when 1t begins
to locate the railroad hereg Are we going to let the port conmrSs
decide for themselves where the belt line is to go O. ire we u e d
position to tell the commission when they come here that the track wm
go thus and so with the plans all mapped u TO All u" on'
not someone elses. uhJ
We are going to have parks. There is no question that the people
Of Perth Amboy favor parks. There ought to be a plan OF develop
ment. Where will the parks be located IN 10 CIV I'LL ~ !"
greatest advantagef |
Perth Amboy is going to erect a memorial for the soldiers VINO
fought and died in the World War. The form of the memorial and the
location has not been adopted as yet A memorial Is intended 10 De d
permanent thing. No mistake should be made in the choice or In tne
location. The memorial should be a part of a city plan in order that
ii may harmonic with the other developments OF the city. We 10 not
want to erect a memorial intended to endure for a century or more
and then find within fifteen or twenty years that 1T Is located exacty
where we have got to place some terminal r other development INA
cannot go anywhere else.
A belt line street railway system is most essential for the growth
Of the city; there must be a new union station. The route LOT III
street bet line should be carefully considered for the best interests OF
every section and the union station should be located where 1t Will
best serve the city for the next half century.
Already the city has made many mistakes We are beginning TO
se hem To remedy them now will cost a great deal of money. Every
day as long IS we continue under the present haphazard method more
mistakes are being made. Every day 1T is becoming harder ana naroer
to make Perth Amboy the city that it should be.
What we need first of all is a plan. twill pay the city a thousand
times vel to secure a definite plan for future development before the
great work of the terminal port development begins.
The trouble is we all have our pet hobbies for the advancement OF
the city. One wants one thing and another wants something else
Parks are She only thing some people think of; others demand a new
station; water front is the main thing for others, and so 1T goes. There
is no concentration and we make progress slowly and without co.
operation.
Why can't we all get together on this one project of securing a
city plan first of alf !
Lets know what we are doing.
When we make an improvement lie. it be along certain DEFINITE
lines so that it viii be a part of one big scheme to make Perth Ambay
the great city that it is bound to be.
But first Of all we must have a plan.
Tu:- a;y ,1ap pnt com before we rec a memorial to the SOL
a;eys. Il mist come before we can successfullylay out a belt line street
railway it must come before we can arrange our WATERFRONT sathat II
will be used to the best advantage setting aside certain portions for
commercial use and other portions for recreation for the people. II
is absolutely essential that we have a plan to present to the port com
mission when he belt line railroad comes here.
With a city plan a man about to invest IN a piece OF properly
residential nurnoses can know definitely that the property will not be