The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1927-10-04
Increase in Automobile Traffic
Demands Thoroughfares
for Vehicular Stream
ZONING ALTERS
OLD-TIME METHODS
City Planning and Zoning Re-
suit Almost Universally in
Increased Values Because
of Beauty and Value
BY JOHN IHLDER

United States
City planning and zoning have re-
suited almost universally in in
creased values, not only for the
community as whole but also for
the properties Immediately affected
City planning has brought increas-
Ct facilities at a reduced expense
compared with what similar facili-
ties would have cost under The OLD
haphazard method. Zoning, toe has
Z increased values. though it has
curbed the Imagination of the spec
ula.ors.
Zoning has disclosed the fact that
business no longer follows the
street car tracks. In the old bcrse-
drawn days, stores followed street
car lines. SO street-car streets were
zcned commercial and in this way
a frontage beyond the dreams of
avarice was assigned to the theO-
retically higher price classification.
Demanded Rezoning
Then we began to get surprising
results. Home owners demanded,
for the protection of their invest
ments, that commercial areas be re-
zoned as residential. Owners of
vacant lots, finding no market be-
cause there could not be enough
stores to occupy the commercial
frontage and because house-owners
would not build in a commercial
zone, asked for rezoning. Certain
businesses began to prefer streets
on which there were no street cars,
because automobile patrons could
reach them more easily. The in
creasing use of buses. which doubl-
ed the frontage on common carrier
streets, gave the last blow to the
old theory that street-car streets
are potentially business streets.
There is another phase of plan
ming which is just beginning to ap-
pear and which will cause some con
Germ Because of the increase of
automobile traffic we must provide
thoroughfares which will carry not
only continuous streams of vehicles,
but many heavy vehicles. These will
have an increasing effect upon the
use and the value of abutting prop
erty. So far the general effect has
been to increase values. Especially
is this true in industrial and COM
mercial areas. But our new arte-
rial highways, stretching clear
across the city, traverse great areas
which cannot be wholly occupied
by business. The only use for these
areas is residential. Already the
more expensive homes along them
are being abandoned. In some cases
increased land value ccmpensates
for decreased building value.
In some cases apartment houses
are succeeding one-family houses,
as the apartment house dweller
seems able to endure more noise
and vibration than the private
home owner. But these are exped-
tents. They do not promise to oe-
cupy all the arterial highway front
age. The only solution offered IS
Q redesign in such highways. They
should be so broad that they can
provide for at least three roads, one
in the center for through traffic
and one on either side. separated
from the center road by a strip OF
grass and trees, which will serve
the abutting property In residence
districts the houses must be set
back behind generous front yards
This will be costly. but the alterna-
tive of unused or blighted proper
ties paying a minimum OF taxes
Will be more costly.