Evening star., 1937-01-22
Appalled, by Suggestion
OF Car Parking in Parks
To the Editor of The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
An appalling suggestion has been re-
Gently offered that some Of Washington's
downtown parks be destroyed in order
to make additional storage lots for auto
mobiles, but since it has been offered
apparently in good faith, let US con-
slider such proposal.
It's proponent has arrived at the some
what obvious conclusion that when hun
dreds Of people live in one apartment
house they cannot hope to park their
cars in the small street frontage below"
That Is quite true, except that what is
meant Is not parking cars, but storing
cars.
They could also not hope to store their
studio couches and dining room tables
and the babys hobby horse in the public
street when they are not using them.
No matter how wide street Is and
how many valuable shade trees have
been destroyed to increase its width it
still has only two curbs. If these are en-
tirely monopolized by permanent street.
sitters there will naturally be no room
left for limited legitimate parking.
But why does this false idea persist
in Washington, which all other grown-up
cities have long ago abandoned. that
private individuals are thus entitled TO
misappropriate public space?
In former days no one thought of
owning a horse and buggy unless he
had his own place to shelter them. II
he owned a vehicle of private transpor-
tation he lived in the country or sub
urbs or in a house with stable in
town, not in tWo-room apartment. Why
should the principle be any different
today, when the congestion Of cities is
a hundred times greater?
And now the prepoSterous idea is Of
fered that not content with monopolizing
public streets, private car owners would
even encroach on public parks and make
open-air garages Of these, "for a small
fee" and suitably Handicapped" just
what the latter phrase means would be
difficult to understand as have yet to
see any parking lot handicapped with any,
thing except hideous eyesores in the form
of red and yellow signs that one wonders
why any Of our city planning commits
sions tolerate.
Meanwhile, what about Washington's
traditional reputation as one of the beau
tiful capitals of the world, which is rap
idly being turned into sorry jest? One
beautiful historic old mansion after an
other with its surrounding trees and gar
denS has fallen under the wrecker's ak
and its former site is now stuffed full
of cars. When the few remaining public
beauty spots are likewise turned into
open-air garages what will there be left
to attract the touriSts-upon whom our
hotels and merchants thrive?
And what about the enormous losses
in property values that would be suf-
fered by adjacent owners if whole city
areas should thus be cheapened to the
appearance Of slums in order that few
car owners may be benefited at public
expense? A point is often made of the
taxes that car owners pay. What about
the taxes that home owners pay?
If the subject Is considered as a whole
and from the viewpoint of the common
good instead of from that of personal
self-interest, does it not then become
plain that our transportation problem will
never be solved on the basis of the pres
ent wasteful individualistic system?
The insane welter and waste and in
creasing congestion attending the efforts
to accommodate always more and more
private cars are resulting only in the
rapidly increasing uglifcation of Wash
ington and will never solve the traffic
problem. The congestion is reaching the
saturation point and defeating itself.
The remedy lies not in trying to ac-
commodate more private cars but fewer.
and in concentrating our united efforts
on demanding and getting rational sys-
TEN Of co-ordinated economical public
transportation.