Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-01
GOOD PAVING HELD
LURE TO TOURISTS
Easy Motoring Adds to
Charm of Drives Through
Beautiful Suburban Areas.

The lure of good pavement for mo-
toring around American cities, the ease
of trading afforded by the extension
and widening of thoroughfares and the
roominess and beauty of rapidly de-
veloping suburbs are the main factors
behind the population drift away from
rural to urban life.
This is the view Of George F. Schles-
niger, managing director of the National
Paving Brick Manufacturers ASsocia-
ton and former State highway direc-
tor Of Ohio, whose observations are
based upon first-hand information on
the relation of paving to the present
population drift.
It is Mr.. Schlesinger's view that the
present population drift is not so much
toward the large city as it is toward
the smaller population centers and their
suburban areas. In other words, the
well-paved town of 10000 to 10000 is
the halfway point, and the people who
are now being checked as missing from
farms and villages are not after all so
far away from their original habitat
Best-Paved Streets Sought.
They are simply going to the next
solidated schools, better store keeping
and spacious moving picture houses
with good music are within easy reach.
It Is in these latter centers and not in
the large cities where the most salts
factory gains in population are being
made.
while not generally noticeable at
this time" said Mr.. Schlesinger, there
Is beginning to appear a split-up Of
American cities. In the light of the
story which census figures for 1880 are
beginning to tell, this may come some
what as surprise, but it will soon be
very clear fact. Take such centers
as Chicago, Cleveland. Cincinnati and
other centers Of like character. Here
we find when we bore into the situa-
ton, not one great city but a group of
little cities, and it is getting so now,
with dependable pavementS on roads
and streets, that the little city group
fartheSt away has all of the trading
advantages of the group nearest to the
heart of the large center, which boast
fully claims the whole group of little
centers around it as coming within its
metropolitan area. No. it isn't the city
that is doing the pulling away from
rural areas. 1t Is the well-paved, beau-
tifully handicapped stopping place closer
to the open country.
Avoid Smoke and Noise.
"And good pavement plus the motor
car, might add, is affording the people
way Of escape from the smoke and
noise Of the restless and busy city.
Some day we may be able to add the
commercial value Of restful slumber to
other values that good paving bring to
the beautifully built-up communities,
but for the present we are content
with the tangible values that we already
enjoy.
But the population drift toward the
beautiful halfway points on the road
to the city is bringing with it an op-
portunity and responsibility-an cp-
portuoity to further widen the home
owning ana l.eszee-loving areas around
our cities, and responsibility to see
that taxes are decreased rather than
increased through the construction of
dependable streets and roads. In other
words. TO see that we get built-in values
in our public improvements, along with
our buMding-up process toward the
sound development of happier COM
munities."