Evening star., 1941-03-10
Says Big Buildings
Cause Parking Trouble
Veteron Authority Declares
City Lond Is Developed
Too IntensiveIy

Editors Note: Because Of its OBJ
vious Importance in relation to a
problem which increasingly Is engag-
ing the attention of thoughtful citi-
zens of the District of Columbia, the
major portion of statement by Fred
eric A. Delano, chairman of the Ma
tional Capital Park and Planning
Commission, presented before the
Washington Building Congress March
3, is reproduced herewith.
1t is easy to understand how, in the
early history of our country, when our
ancestors first came here, the idea de-
veloped that any man who had endured
the great hardships of coming to this
promised land was entitled by right Of
conquest to do about as he wanted to
with his own. That feeling was still
pretty general when I was a lad, and
exists in many parts of the country to
this day. Only in cities do we realize
that there must be some rather strict
rules in the game of life-a rule which
may be called the rule of live and let
live"-and that man cannot be per-
mitted to do things even with his own
property which are injurious or seriously
preiudicial to his neighbor. Thus we find
in the early days Of town and city de-
velopment setback" ordinances. and
indeed many other rules and restrictions
embodied chiefly under what are now
claSSed as zoning laws and land-use
regulations.
The problem is naturally growing in
intensity and completely as our cities
grow When was a boy IS per cent of
our people lived in the country and only
Is per cent in incorporated towns and
cities. Now the figures are reversed.
Worse than that, half our total popua-
tion lives in the 100 first cities.
Next we find that it is in the larger
cities that we encounter the very high
land values. In some of these cases we
can see that grave injustice has been
done to many property owners, whereas
the lucky or the more favored few have
at times profited enormously. While no
one will deny that foresight or even good
fortune must of necessity play a part in
proving that one mans judgment or
talents may we'll be entitled to a greater
reward, within reasonable limits. than
another, We can see that if We are to ad-
here to our national aim Of equal oppor-
tunlty for all, we must apply rules which
will work for the benefit of the manv
rather than for that of the favored few.
1t is for this reason that we find 1t
necessary to set up machinery to allie
viate and, so far as practical, prevent the
existence of overcrowding. Hence, in
order to reach fair solution of the
problem we must in the nature of things
study, first, the causes of congestion. of
oVercrowding, of excessive real estate
valuations on the one hand and of low
valuations and sometimes squalid condi-
tions on the other The invention within
the life Of many still living of the steel
frame building, the rapidly moving ele-
vator, and lastly, the low-priced, self
driven automobile. has had an important
part in creating these conditions.
In some cities in our country it has
been found that the spending of huge
sums for widened arteries down into the
city has not increased taxable values Of
NAAC ONSlIlCoo CClltSI OcCduSe DY dQOlnR
to congestion the owners have been COM
PEELED to create branches at subcenters
outside the downtown areas. This in
turn has created a demand for free or a
least low-priced parking facilities in the
business center. We are often told that
Offices downtown must provide all-day
parking at least for their tenants, to
which the response is that no one will
pay for all-day parking or even take the
trouble Of utilizing it so long as there is
available free space on streets or park
roads
have lived here dn Washington more
than rs years and during a good share
of that time have studied the problem
closely. Furthermore, I have studied
other cities, notably Chicago, New York
and st. Louis. Admittedly, these cities
differ widely in many particulars, but
have q common problem, TO wit, that
arising from very great congestion due
to high buildings without nearby space
for parking cars, now described as off,
street parking.
Many American cities forbid free park
iA5 AOA Oh Ndy VI IllSIlI, Uut JneS6 OTOl-
nances are frequently a dead letter, and
yet it seems too self f-evident to repeat
that no person will drive to parking lot
so long as free parking in the streets or
parks Is permitted. However we ap-
proach the problem, we are driven to the
conclusion that the major cause of the
trouble is the density of population
housed in every great Office building.
store, hotel or apartment house. 1t
creates situation which must be borne
by the neighborhood and, last but not
least, either streets must be widened to
reach these areas or else off-street park
ing must be supplied in order to clear
the streets so that they may perform
their required functions.
The study Of any of our cities points
out that there is great difference in
the use actually made by the lot owners.
In many blocks you see extremes, from
total use of the entire lot at the maxi
mum height and density on the one hand
to a moderate use by q low building, or
our country, our real estate taxes are not
based on the actual use made of the land
nor on the income actually derived from
it, but on its maximum prospective value.
In New York and Chicago. I have seen
cases of property owners who were cruel
ly overtaxed for vacant lots in a Closely
built-up neighborhood. In some of these