Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 233, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 October 1917 — HOME TOWN HELPS [ARTICLE]

HOME TOWN HELPS

TOWNS IN ENGLAND PLANNED Garden Cities Show What Can Be Accomplished by Carefully Laying Out Site Before Building. In the garden cities of England, such as Letchworth and Hampstead, the site of the town was purchased by a company and the town was laid out as a whole with reservations for public and semi-public buildings, parks, playgrounds and civic centers. The location of factories, business houses and stations was designated and the sites of the residences were carefully planned. The result has been highly gratifying from every point of view. The convenience and comfort of the citizens have been promoted, a high degree of beauty has been obtained and the health of the communities has become far famed. When these garden cities are compared with the towns that have grown up without planning the value of town planning becomes evident. In one the needs of community life are recognized and provided for: in the other the community is ignored and each individual is left to follow his own initiative. In one a high measure of comfort is assured the individual by his taking the proper place in the community; in the other the individuals clash in their efforts to promote self-interest, with result that the few secure the desired comforts at the expense and disadvantage of the many.