Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-05

too heavy trafic; that recreation
grounds and parks are needed, and no
city blocks have BEEN set aside for that
purpose: that dumping grounds are
found along railroad sioings and nearby
ravines that might become beauty
spots; that places of business are found
on what we're good residence streets:
that conglomeraSion of single houses,
row houses and apartment houses has
been built in one section; that poorly
ventilated homes and work places, awk-
ward buildings and ugly houses are too
much in evidence. m short, these
towns and cities present in whole or
in part an untidy appearance, an eX=
ample of poor town or city housekeep-
ing: - ,,o
been and the remedy is community
planning. Community planning is OPP
erative over a period of years. devised
by a community to provide for Itself
as the need arises those facilities which
it deems essential for health, safety,
recreation, education, convenience,
prosperity and serene and joyous living.
steps toward securing community
planning are: First, an unofficial, unSal-
aried citizens community planning
committee of women and men, self
appointed or appointed by the mayor,
to consist of to II representative citi-
zens. which, though it has advisory
powers only, and these unofficial, may
b. very influential by reason of its great
interest in the citys future and It's in
telligant plans for making the COM
munity a good place in which to live.
work and play. Or, instead of the un-
official committee. community plan
ming commission with official advisory
powers. made up of the mayor, a rep
resentative of the city council. an archl-
tect perhaps the city engineer and
prominent citizens who should always
be in the majority, the commission
chairman to be paid and trained
planner advisor. Some universities are
now providing in their curriculum
courses in community planning. -
"The work of this committee is two
fold, and this constitutes steps two and
three in community planning-to make
a social and economic survey of the
town and then prepare comprehen-
sive plan which will show its present
development and anticipate coming
needs, plan that will have for its
goal good place for children to grow
up in and convenient and lovely place
in which adults may live.
According to an authority a survey
should reveal how the community is
growing and in what direction, what is
being done to stimulate or retard
growth, effect on it of railroad and
freight rates. effect of motor BUSES
and trucks, effect of local raw materials,
tendencies toward development of eX-
listing or new types of industry, the
character of the city as business GEN.
ter, racial characteristics of the city and
their effect, the labor and wage prob
lens. houseing, availability of capital,
the climate and history and the munlc-
ipal law
THE fourth step in this program is
public education to secure support Of
the plan by the entire citizenry.
THE fifth and last step in community
planning is continuous application, Of
the plan to all public and private work
over long period of years necessarily
and this involves maintenance and
administration OF the plan after its ap-
prevail by the city officials. OF course,
the plan will need revision from time TO
time. From the finding the commission
prepares a map of the city, existing and
future, any comprehensive city plan
which will concern itself with water
systems, sewer systems garbage collec-
ton, streets-their paving, lighting,
cleanliness, traffic and planting of trees
and shrubs; coming regulations, build
ing codes, electricity, gas and tele-
phone provisions, transportation. parks
and Fairgrounds; municipal buildings
schools, library, community hall, art
muesm, ETC.; civic art, and city nuis-
ances such as smoke, dirt, noises, etc.
President Hoover says, City plan
ming is going on about us every day in
our cities and towns 1t is done bit by
bit by private landowners and city of
ficials, few of whom know or can know
what others are doing or have in mind
Or it may be done by the citizens and
their local government working together
through permanent public planning