American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1921-06-03
CITY PLANNER
TALKS OF FUTURE
Says American Falls Has Unusual
Opportunity to Build Efficiently In
, New Problems Interesting
and win Require Time.

Seldom is there an opportunity of
fered a town to begin from the ground
up and build to definite plan such as
Is offered the new American Falls, |
says Russell V. Black, expert and ma
tionally known city planner who is in
American Falls at the bequest of the
u. S. reclamation service for period
estimated at not less than tow months.
Mr.. Black has been studying the To-
cal situation broadly during his ten
days in the city, has visited other
towns of the valley and is laying the
ground work for more detailed reports
| in the days to come. He states that
any announcement of plans at this
time would be evidently premature
but in the following statement out
lines the opportunities offered and
some of the problems to be considered.
His Statement.
| MANY of our American towns and
cities have begun to suffer so much
from the mistakes of past haphazard
growth that they are at last coming to
realize the importance of planning the
expansion of communities nthe same
way that wise men plan their homes,
Thrifty housewives plan their kitchens,
and shrewd business men plan the en-
largement of their plants.
Ordinarily the awakening comes too
late. The injury has already been
ddone. Streets are hopelessly tangled,
II are too narrow, and lead nowhere
n Business has been oramped into one
( or two short streets without room Tor
N easy development. No land has been
a reserved for parks or Fairgrounds. No
Y space has been provided for street
: altrees. The whole city finds itself In an
7 awful muddle simply because II has
NEGLECTED TO look ahead to take these
!. ordinary. precautions and to provide
|. lprovide these few simple things fol
= the future city, which they had, ever
! reason to believe would someday de
! velop.
!. Patchwork Cities.
- Through this shortsightedness o
=, their founders, most American town
- and cities have suffered real misfor
10 tune. Much of the harm can never b
~ undone. Afew mistakes can be par
y TALLY remedied, but only at great cos
y Sometimes a certain degree of efficien
:" W cy can be regained but usually the OF
- portunity to develop an attractive an
u really livable and thoroly prosperou
~ community is forever lost. At bel
al
can result in little more than patcl
n work makeshfts.
~ "Seldom is there the opportunity o
- fered a town to begin from tire groun
q up and build to a definite plan sue
70 as is offered TO the new America
- Falls. Every street is to be laid ane'
= Business and homesltes can be place
- exactly where they will serve ea'
= other best with the minimum OF in1u
%. TO each other and upon land be
20 adapted to their respective needs. 81
e of land can be reserved here and the
q for recreation and for various pub
and semi-public buildings. Amp
provisions can be made for street tire
and other attractive features
I'm In short we have here the unusu
opporunity of avoiding once and
Az ali the costly mistakes 30 common
most cities and the chance TO build
really convenient comfortable, and
tractive town, a town that Will ami
accommodate the present populatl
,ue of the old town and will at the sal
act time be laid upon a foundation u
m will permit of and encourage expa
un- sion.