The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1928-10-27


winter recreatiOnal activities for the
people. 1t was felt chat such
condition would make for discomfort
and carry too great an element OF
risk in procuring and holding Of
labor. This jolt to theA pride and
pocketbool1 of the community
aroused local leaders to an apprecia-
ton OF the value OF community
recreation, and a movement was &C
once put on foot to secure = bond
issue OF 100000 for municipal recre-
alton facilities at the next election.
Good Place to Live
Four years ago the great Mccall
Publishing Company moved its plant
from New York to Dayton, Ohio.
At 4 reception given the principal
officers OF the company by the
townspeopIe, the president OF Nc
Calls was asked this question:
Now just why did you select TINS
I'm answering the question as to
why we selected Dayton, replied
III. 3. Warner, the president
II can only say 1t was the Nv
abIeness Of your city that decided
the issue. we found others with
plenty OF labor, others with ade'
quate shipping facilities, others IN
which manufacturing facilities We're
equal to those OF Dayton, but no
where did we find q place where
the qualities OF living were
highly developed ~ they We're mere.
Keep Dayton q good place 70 I'VE
IN and your future 10 assure
ut is my opinion that the next
decade will see q decentraliza
81 industry. There has been great
grouping together OF industries II
certain centers and q recreation y
coming. Dollars alone are not
enough now. Employees deserve and
want q more fruitful and cheerful
life
You who are familiar with Dayton
know that 4 part Of its fruitful and
cheerful nfev is an excellent munic-
ipaI recreation program. It has two
ynunicipal golf courses, 50 tennis
courts 81 baseball fields, IA athleticl
fields. 10 Fairgrounds. Is indoor rec
reation centers. bathing beach and
a swimming pool.
Recreation Increases Value
Not only does recreation bring eco
non1ic benefit to industry but It IN.
creages land values It. has long
been recognized that parks enhance
the desirabiIity of nearby land, thus
Welding more taxes to the munic-
ipality and boosting the sales VaIue
If the property to the owner. This
Is true BECAUSE people are willing to
nav for sunlight, beauty OF sur
roundings. the opportunity to enjoy
wholesome exercise, sense OF space,
and contact with things OF nature.
In the Park Manual, recently pun
lished by the Playground ana Rec-
reation Association and edited Dy
+. n. Weir, several instances OF the
increase OF property values near
mark lands are cited: .
en- 1915 the board of park COM
ntssioners in Essex County, N. j..
engaged the services of an expert 10
make a report as to the actual value
in dollars and cents OF the county
mark system. The report was made
an four OF the Newark parks. Tne
following extract is taken from =
summary published in the Newark
Sunday Call:
sThe property Immediately ad-
Joining the four parks named was
assessed in 1905 for $4,14S,S5O aho
in 1915 for $29,266,O0O, an increase
~
Al the same time property In the
same taxing district and perhaps
not wholly outside of what may DC
called the park influence, was as
sessed in 1905 at $36 ,606,9O7 ana IN
1915 at Sill ,531 ,725, a gain OF $44''
924 .S18 or 204.6 per cent. In palmer
words. while the property adJoln-
ing the parks has increased more
than six times in value, property
in the remainder Of the same taxing
districts has about doubled in value.
Increased Valuations
"'If the increase inr.valuations ad-
Joining these parks has been the
same as in other property in the
same taxing districts, and no more
it should have been 8,453, 454, leav-
ing an increase as a result OF the
marks of S16,668, 700. The fortunate
owners of this property nave ocen
enriched by this large sum oeyond
what thew would have been had the
marks not been established.
But this is not all. The cost
NJ these four parks was $4,24l $40.
The increase is enough to pay for
them four times. The cost OF all
the parks in the county was So
929, 1926. 47-say $7,0OO,OOO. The IN
crease of property adjoining these
four parks alone, beyond what II
would have been IL the parks had
not been constructed, is sufficient
to nav for all the parks In the
county "a times, and the increase
from the other parks in the county
while not so great in proportion,
is undoubtedly much more than
their cost. The increased revenue
to the county is already sufficient
to nav the interest and sinking
fund charges on the bonds issued
for mark construction, and almost
the entire cost of the annual MANI
tenance.
City Planning Up to Date
A statement of the Mason McDuf-
fie Company, of San Francisco, is
as follows:
"It may be of interest to you to
know that in laying out st. Francis
Wood, a residential subdivision de-
veloped by us in San Francisco, we
reserved between and 10 per cent
of its area of 125 acres for commu-
nifty parks and Fairgrounds. we
are confident that the value or the
land devoted to these purposes was
fully recovered through the creation
Of higher values in the home sites
of st. Francis Wood"
This thesis may be carried still
further. If it is true that the organ
lied recreation program helps to re-
duce juvenile delinquency, and If
adult criminals generally begin their
careers as Juvenile delinquents-and
both these propositions are true
it is obvious that great saving is
made to the community every time
a dnlinnlIent is reclaimed tn whole.