, 1922-11-15
The Un-Zoned City.

"DoEs zoNING PAY'7 asks John Ihider, e1-
IL pert civic developer. And then answers his
own question b. adding, Eyes, II it is true that
a nickel saved is n nickel earned"
Coming pays not only liz that it makes the return
on real estate investment more sure, but also in
that it prevents or lessons capital loss. Among
the greatest losses from which our cities suffer
are;
Deprecated values, due to the changing charac.
ter Of a district.
Fire losses.
Mis-spent taxes.
That coming stabilizes the character of a district
and prevents the blight due to a mixture of mu-
tualy harmful uses, generally Is recognized. The
residence that cost $1,000 or $4,000 loses half its
value If a store is opened next door; loses even
more If its new neighbor is a factory, or n garage.
The retail store that did a thriving business will
find its trade diminishing If the neighboring prop.
erty Is occupied by business or industry offensive
or disturbing to customers. The industry that has
residences for n~eighbors is nearly sure to be han.
dicapped in operation or expansion by complaints
of its noise, its odors, its smoke or some other mani
f~estation Of its activity.
Those facts have been recognized, although not
always realized, as long as men have lived in cities.
The oldest towns had their different quarters, or
bazaars because experience showed that was best
for business. Zoning simply utilities this age old
experience and applies it logically and in orderly
fashion.
Fire losses are among the great prevcntable
wastes of America. They are increased by jun.
bling different kinds of occupations together and
by crowding buildings too close to each other. In
our cities business men often pay higher insurance
rates than they would if their fire hazard was not
by neighboring properties. Householders
pay more than they would If there were wider
spaces between houss or if business or factory
buildings were not mixed in with residences. That
is a constant and unnecessary tax. Zoning re
duces it.
Ioning also reduces the other tax, that paid not
to private companies, but TO public treasures.
Public taxes for public improvements are a real
item to every business man and to every house
holder.
All of those affected by coming. A large proper.
tion of our expensive school buildings are of
value because of the environment that
has developed about them. They should be. and
many will be, strapped long before they are worn
out, simply because of the neighborhood. Teach
ers and pupils are only partly efficient because
of their surroundings, noisy, dirty, dangerous, dis
tracing. The loss here is constant and it is per
manent, for the pupil cannot live over again his
partly wasted years. He goes oct into life han
dicapped.
Our highways arc costing more and more every
year. If Il highway is built to serve a miscel-
lany of uses or without any clear idea of the
of its district, it is sure to cost more
than it should. Wide, heavy pavement suitable
to stretches of streets directly past establish
ments needing II, and from them by the shortest
routes to destinations, such as freight stations.
II 1t passes through residence districts it not only
represents waste in cost of unnecessary construc-
ton, but waste of time and energy on the part
of truckers. Narrow, more lightly paved road
ways are adequate to the needs of residence dis
trcts except in the case of a few arterial highways.
if they are used by heavy trucks they soon are
broken up and must be repaired.
The cost of laying sewers and water mains is an
item of consequence. In a properly zoned city it
is possible to figure just what volume these serv-
will have to carry when a district is fully
built up. Then the right size can be laid in the first
place. In an unzoned city the safe thing is to err
on the side of adequacy and lay pipes larger and
more costly than are likely to be needed because
this waste is so much less than the waste of re
placing pipes within n few years.
The work of our police and of or fire depart
ments is simplified in a zoned city. A conglomer-
alton of dwellings with gas tanks, lumber Yards
and warehouses offers infinite possibilities for
trouble. That kind of conglomeration also adds
20 the work of the health department both on its
preventive side and its hospital side. So coming
does pay.