Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-05-15
PLANNING A T

The Russell Sage foundation. has undertaken a
survey of the city of New York and its enyirons
with a view to the preparation of a plan for the de-
velopment Of the city in such a manner that the
needs of the next century shall be:rnet. Such a work
is an ambitious one out of which those who engage
in 1t can hope to reap little OF personal benetlt.
Their reward. will come in the satisfaction which is
found in work for a worthy purpose well done, and
in the consciousness that generations after they are
gone, those who follow them will benefit from their
labors, and that because Of them the lives of millions
will be conforted. expanded and frightened. Such
a work fires the imagination and inspires sympathy.
The only great American city which can be
said to have been planned from the beginning is the
national capital, Washington. The French archi-
tect l'Enfant, who reduced to concrete form the
vision which he had Of a noble and imposing city,
was fortunate in being able to deal with raw ma
terial which had not been crystallized into forms
,lnsuited to his purpose. He had nothing to undo.
He had a free hand. There was also the advantage
that Washington was to be a political and not an
industrial or commercial city. 1t was to be the seat
of government, a place Of magnificent official struc-
lures and Of the homes of those whose activities
were conferred in and around those buildings. The
architect produced a work of art, and the. conditions
were such that, in its essential features, his vision
could be realized.
The ordinary city is not and cannot be built
ffthat way. It is the home, and the countinghousc,
landsthc workshop of those who inhabit it.. No mat
tier what plans are made for the future, the necessi-
tiles Of the immediate present must be met. Much
40GS6 w OOuOs lIoL wall 8 ~ y ul1NOlS vi IN
people of today must have homes to live in, and
places to work in, and means of communication and
transit and other conveniences suited to their own
needs and within their means.
"a plan of New York was made IN 1911. 1t has
proven Inadequate, naturally and necessarily. The
55IlNew York of 1911 contained 10000 inhabitants.
1Kh1fpopulztion has expanded in 4 little over a cen
tuSfy into one of nine millions. The early planners
hid not tofeseest that increase. It was impossible for
5k1,em TO do SO. Their own vision carried them
tfhuItther than they felt that popular opinion would
jaeeonnpany them, and in preparing their plans they
ffcosnpfomised between the picture presented BY
lfher imagination and the more conservative
Estimates Of the public. They could not have done
aiotherwise with any hope of having their plansFac-
seepted.
Not only in numbers and bulk were those men
sunable 70 foresee the changes of a century. The
y they were planning was to develop needs
1aot whose very nature they were ignorant. They
knew New York as an important seaport. but II was
a port Tor sailing vessels, and they had no reason to
suppose that il would be anything else, because the
steamship was as yet merely an experiment. In
land transport they knew Of the horsezdrawn Ne,
SShicles and nothing else, because there was nothing
SET heiT business was to provide mesnss Of in
Nggtess and egTess by wagon, and they did so. They
ssh3dago conception Of human beings living and work
anlsE q 1sysfs. story aboye story, for hundreds Of feet
s1 tksss "a, md they made 40 provision for anything!
9Iok only had those planners no mixing, 81. any|
sof t6ese specific changes, but they had no reason til
ss6poseat1iat such changes would Sci made. They!
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