Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-08
ARCHITECTS URGE
!. BETTER PLANNING
rCommittee Starts Study to
Promote More Beautiful
Arrangement.
(contlnued FROM First Pager

sagainst the few who put self-interest
sabove the general welfare.
But, speaking from nearly q quarter
century OF experience IN striving e
sapply the principles Of the city plannef
ITO the practical demands of modern
scity living, especially as applied TO the
eprotection Of home life through the
Sperpetuation Of fine influences not diff
scult to set up, the greatest thing to be
sdesired is intangible
II refer to morale. Unless there is
developed among the people deep
sseated loyalty TO these things, no city
is an alert and determined interest in
schecking the smallest violation OF the
srules laid down in the restrictions or
sthe ordinances or statutes. The great
lest asset q city or q neighborhood may
solain Is loyalty that is Intelligent and
sunwavering.
The City Intelligent.
: Fortunately. the planned city be-
scomes the city intelligent, the city
sloyal. Morale grows out OF something
sfo' which people may be proud. II city
splanning did nothing more than inspire
"a finer type Of citizenship, it would
shave justified itself. Since it is the
sgreat stabilizer of property values and
THE protector Of wealth, 1t is one OF the
smost practical things man ever has
devised"
Practically all cities are alike in their
mechanical equipment, Mr.. Rogers
graph and the telephone; light, power
and heat; good roads and amusementS,
sbut there is q wide divergence among
scities in those elements which make
Giving more worth while and more
sprofitable.
"The Improvement Of quality assists
In the establishment of character, and
scharacter Is the best OF advertising
media. We are attracted to people, not
because they have accumulated quanti-
tiles of worldly goods, not because they
are large, nor because they can talk
J0nger or faster than others, but be-
Scause of their character. Character in
- city as in man is the expression of its
sideals and aspirations. 1t is personal
and local.
"a city therefore should develop in
accordance with local conditions and
local or sectional traditions. The elm,
q beautiful and characteristic tree of
New England cities, would be inappro-
pirate in any of the Gulf Coast cities,
and the palm-lined avenues of Los
Angeles would appear ridiculous If de-
veloped in Chicago.
"A New York skyscraper does not
make a city of $4,000 population a
metropolis, and the building of a
town Injuries rather than improves the
housing situation. The folk lore, senti-
Hnent and character of any section of
the country is built around local con-
ditions and local attributes, and it Is
these which should be utilized, refined
and perfected In the building OF q city
! therefore commend for your considers
ton the application of the principles
which business has so successfully en-
pioyed, namely. to improve the char
aeter Of the municipal product as the
best means Of Increasing the produc-
ton, the enhancement Of property
values, and the realization of a more
successful life"
Beauty By-ProduCt.
Mr.. Nelson holds that beauty Is q by
economy of design. II think M. Nell
son continues, that the airplanes Of to-
day are more pleasing than those OF 10
years ago and that this quality derives
from improvement in these factors.
II am inclined to doubt, therefore,
that conscious striving for beauty in our
cities VIII give US the results we want
anu bLiab yUu nave III ulLLlQ. HGllcEe
that II we plan our cities so as to utilize
the ground most efficiently for struc-
lures and for trafi1c, so as to give to
our citizens healthful conditions and
convenient opportunities for recreation,
the net result will be beautiful cities.
believe the point where architects
ana city planners should start their
work today Is with the family residen-
tai unit. I believe this unit to be in
emcient and costly with relation to the
needs 1t serves and in comparison with
what could be developed with the
scientific and technical knowledge we
already have
One prominent citizen of washington.
ID. G., informs the committee that there
Is "some slight evidence of originality
IN American cities. "One town." he OBJ
serves, will have 10 more oil signs on
the right-hand side Of the main an
preach to the city than the next town.
The next town has 18 more chicken
dinner signs than the town before
"The town after that has It's slums
on the south side Of the railroad tracks,
and the town after that has them on the
north side. Each town has the most
wonderful chamber of commerce that
was ever organized, and a lot of other
allied, uplift outfits who are long on
conversation and extremely short on
action"