Evening star., 1925-02-22
Washington and the Federal City

the residents. Few sections have been
fully planned even within themselves.
And in all the 1876 years since the LEnfant
plan fostered by George Washington there
has been no comprehensive restudy of the
Federal City, though the boundaries OF the old
plan were exceeded a generation ago. The
awkward patching together of the parts
of the city with the old makes contrast
hardly favorable to our generation.
In a day when the term 'cty planning"
not known, George Washington had the vision
and the common sense to procure unified,
harmonious design for the new Federal City.
He could never have supposed that when the
bounds of that plan were exceeded, his sue
cessors would fail to provide plan.
Yet we who live in a period when there is a
recognized profession Of city planners have
allowed the Capital City to spread out over
the hills helter-skelter without profiting by
the professional advice which might claim
X X X x
During the week of April 20, in New York
City, in connection with the national con-
ference city planning, there will be held
this year the conference of the International
Federation for Town and Country Planning and
Garden Cities. On April %, the Washington
Committee of One Hundred the Federal City,
which was organized by the American Civic AS
sociation in 1929 will hold in the building of
the Pan-Amerfcan Union, a pan American con-
ference capital cities, to which have been
invited delegates from the 20 American capi-
tails represented in the union The delegates
to the New York conference have been asked
to come to Washington to see what the Amer
icas have done in the way of capital building
The foreign delegates who may Wash
ington for the first time will recognize clearly
the inspired quality in the LEnfant plan, for
which George Washington well as L Enfant
was responsible. They will appreciate the
revival of the old plan and its adaptation to
modern conditions which resulted from the
work of the Mcmillan commission in 1901
They Will recognize in the park plans of the
newly created Capital Park Commission ex-
cellent promise for the future. They will
surely recognize the beauty of the Capitol,
the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Me-
mortal and the existing parks of Washington.
But how can they fail to criticize the develop
ment of Pennsylvania avenue? AS students
of modern principles of city planning, they
cannot fail to recognize that the recent
pansion of the Capital of the United States
has followed general plan.
X x X x
For two years the American Civic Associa-
ton has been striving TO remedy this situa-
tion. The American Institute of Architects
has appointed a committee the Federal
City. The City Planning Institute and the
American Society of Landscape Architects
have urged that a comprehensive plan be made
for the Capital of the Nation.
In recognition of this clearly defined need
Senator King of Utah recently introduced into
the Senate bill (S 1859 to create Federal
City planning commission to prepare a com
prehensive, consistent and co-ordinated plan
for the District of Columbia and its environs,"
which plan shall include recommendations
to traffic and transportation; plats and sub
divisions: highways parks and parkways;
school sites and Fairgrounds; housing build
ing and zonngA regulations; public and private
buildings; bridges and waterfronts; commerce
and industry; and other proper elements of
city planning" This bill has been reported
favorably by the Senate committee the
District az Columbia ReDresentatiVe Zihlman
. of Maryland has introduced similar bill into
the House (H. r. 1222S), and it has been
ported favorably by the House committee on
the District of Columbia
Could fitting celebration of the 1880
anniversary of the birth of George Washing
ton, who was responsible for the first plan of
the Federal City, be found than the passage of
this bill and the voting of the necessary funds
to create, after 135 years, the second plan for
the Greater Federal City?