Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-12-23
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FOR A REAL CITY Ian

the job.
city planning is something more
than opening a few streets where
everybody knows streets ought to be
opened, connecting a few sewers and
having pavemeuts laid. City planning
means a great deal more, even, h
laying out a few parks or establish
ing bathing beaches.
A read city plan is a most ambitious
piece Of work and cannot be drawn
up in an of-handed way or during
ONES spare moments. City planning
is q study. It goes into the matter
with the idea Of a municipality of
fifty years hence. 1t unites all the
developments Of q city in the Interest
Of the whole so that as each improve
mont Is completed It is a part OF a
comprehensive scheme already laid
out, zach step dove-tailing with the
rest.
A city plan for Perth Amboy would
make a study of the needs of the city
for the next century. 1t would de-
eide whether track elevation or track
depression was the most feasible for
The city's interests. II would map out
a complete street railway system; 1t
would visualize a city many times the
size of The city today with Il real park
system consisting of thousands Of
acres connected by broad b~oulevards
and venues It would see in the fer
tile fields of the surrounding country
fine future residential sections and as
these sections are developed the plan
would show the way for connecting
them up with the business section of
the city so as to knit all together into
one we'll organized metropolis. 1t
would lay out in minute detail a great
harbor development with docks and
terminals.
The city plan would include a zon-
ing system setting aside certain sec
tions for residential purposes and pro-
hibiting the erection of anything In the
Inc or COU1llkItldl tILGI pa 1870 III tH"I
vicinity. This would assure a man
who desired TO erect a $4,000 resi-
dence that he would not wake up some
morning TO find n garage on tho next
lot stuck u on the sidewalk. There
would be a business section and a Ger
lain part would be reserved for man
AFAt.rE-r ngfyr n1an 10 no a real
city plan would be the making Of
Perth Amboy ten or fifteen years
hence,
But to have a city plan that would
accomplish something worth while W
3hings are essential. Not only must
an expert he employed to develop the
plan, but the commission appointed to
aave charge Of the work must be kept
sntirely out of politics.
In most cities where the city plan
aas been such a success the governing
3ody or the mayor has named a COM
mission OF high class, capable men
from private life-men who are Inter
ested in the city-to take charge Of
the work. or course, it was up to he
city authorities to accept or reject the
plans as drawn after the commission
had completed it's work. But usually
the plan has been so complete and so
thorough that it has been adopted
without question, no one being able to
offer suggestions of improvement and
many things being found in the plan
that the average person, whether city
official or not, had never thought of.
We do not mean to cast any rehec-
tions on the city engineer or any local
committee that is interested in the
city's betterment. We believe that
Perth Amhoy has one of the best en-
sineers to be found anywhere, but we
do not believe that he claims to be an
expert in any line. He Is a high
class civil engineer. just as we have
high class physicians in this city. But
when II OF these physicians, as
capable as they are themselves, have
a special case on hand they advise
calling a specialist and that is usually
done,
That is exactly the situation of the
city. There is a lot of engineering TO
be one here, but the matter of a city
plan is a case for a specialist and it
is no reflection on the city engineer or
pny other official to call one.
Take tho case of the water board.
which has one of the best engineers
in the business. When 1t comes TO a
knowledge of Perth Amboy's water
supply we do not believe there is a
man living who is better informed, or
more capable. of handling the situation
than the present engineer of the
water department. But when the
water department wanted a plan for