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RECORD   ANJ>   (aUDE





April 20,'1912





The influence which modern forms of transportation
will eventually exert on the growth of large cities is to a
certain extent a matter of conjecture; so far, the result
of transit conditions has been to concentrate the financial,
wholesale and principal shopping districts and to increase
their values by bringing them within the reach of a
larger number of people; to distribute the residential
community, except those of the purely tenement districts,
over larger areas; to equalize the value of outlying sub¬
urban sections, and to emphasize the undesirabillty of
low-lying and swampy land which formerly owed its
chief value to its proximity to built-up sections.

ECONOMIC ARE.A OF CITIES DIFFERS FROM PGLITICVL AREA.

The economic area of large cities frequently differs
greatly from the political area, and may be said to com¬
prise the territory within reach in the time in which the
average man engaged in business can devote to going and
coming from his work; it can be roughly estimated in the
larger cities at about one hour's journey or from twenty-
five to thirty miles from the business center. The
economic area of the City of New York, for instance,
would include not only i\'Ianhattan Island, Brooklyn,
Long Island City, and other territory absorbed at the
time of the extension of its boundaries in 1S9S, but Jer¬
sey City, Hoboken, Newark, Elizabeth and other outlying
towns and settlements.

GROUND   PLAN   OF   CITIES.

Every city has a definite structure which, expanding
more or less regularly along the lines of least resistance,
is subject to modifications by external influences. The
study of the ground plan of any city will enable us to
ascertain the lines of communication with the exterior,
the main arteries of internal traffic, the subordinate
streets, the distribution of the different sections and their
relation to one another.

CITIES  GROW   MORE   COMPLEX   AND  THEIR   SECTIONS  TEND
TO BECOME DISTINCTIVE.

As cities grow, they become more complex and their
subdivisions more numerous, and at the same time these
assume more distinctive characteristics; numerous resi¬
dential sections spring up, attracting people of different
degrees of wealth and of different tastes. Business sec¬
tions of established character tend to attract industries
and occupations similar to those already located there
and to repulse others. The addition of new territory
disturbs the center of gravity and adds its influence to
the other elements impelling changes.

GROWTH   AND   CRYSTALLIZATION   OF   SECTIONS.

The expansion and growth of different sections may
be compared to the crystallization of certain substances
which, when released from solution, gradually assume
definite form and character.

Eventually, in the largest cities, the subdivision of
certain sections is highly developed. Thus, in a section
devoted to the sale of hardware, on some streets will
be found stoves, furnaces and other heating appliances,
on others, agricuUural or mining machinery, building
hardware, etc. This condition is due mainly to the great
saving of time when purchasers find ready at hand dif¬
ferent competing houses selling the goods of which they
are in need.

The attraction competing firms exert on one another
applies also to general shopping districts, as well as to
occupations such as gather round the diflrerent exchanges
and banks in the financial district, and also to a certain
degree to some of the professions; some streets, for in¬
stance, such as parts of j\Iadison Avenue in New York
City and Clinton Street in Brooklyn, become occupied
for doctor's offices, and almost the entire ground floor
accommodation is devoted to their uses.

DISTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT SECTIONS.

The distribution of different sections depends on: 1,
topography; 3, prior establishment; 3, transportation; 4,
effectiveness of the demand of different utilizations; 5,
their relation to one another.

The financial section, which is of marked importance
only in the largest cities, is generally to be found at or
near the starting point, or the original center of gravity,
and is hard to move.

The highest class residential sections are established
on land of moderate elevation, free from nuisances such
as the noisy traffic of street car lines. They attract high
class shops which  endeavor to be near as possible  to





their customers; they also attract churches, theatres,
clubs and similar attendant buildings.

The medium class residential sections are also attracted
by land of moderate elevation, but depend to a greater
extent on good transportation, and to a lesser degree on
absence of nuisances. They also cause the establish¬
ment of local shopping streets and create a demand for
churches, theatres, clubs, etc., for the use of their occu¬
pants.

The cheaper dwellings or tenements utilize land in
proximity to factories, warehouses, and shops, which are
often intermingled with buildings used as dwellings;
others form dense settlements along transportation lines.
Every improvement in transportation tends to strengthen
these outlying settlements, whose inhabitants are willing
to spend the extra time necessary to reach their employ¬
ment and to pay the cost of the daily journey in return
for cheaper rents and less crowded conditions.

Shops catering to local trade follow and press on the
different residential sections, whilst those general shop¬
ping sections which serve a larger territory are depend¬
ent to a greater extent on transportation, which is neces¬
sary to bring their customers to them and they tend to
concentrate in central locations. The largest shopping
sections create a demand for light manufacturing estab¬
lishments, warehouses and stables or garages in their
immediate vicinity.

Commission and wholesale houses, which draw their
trade largely from the surrounding country and are only
partially supported by local buyers, congregate in sec¬
tions which are accessible to their customers and where
they have proper transportation facilities for the delivery
of their goods.

The location of warehouses and factories is governed
by the need for cheap land and access to transpoi^tation
lines.

The less desirable lands are frequently used for the
storage of articles of large bulk, like coal, stone, brick
and lumber.

The location of these different sections and the areas
they cover is constantly shifting, some of them offering
greater resistance tp changes than others. There exists
a constant tendency to the displacement of one class of
utility by others which can pay higher rentals, especially
when their presence is detrimental. For instance, the
advent of shops in the high class portions of Fifth
Avenue, New York City, has caused the steady north¬
ward movement of Fifth Avenue residences, with which
all New Yorkers are familiar.

I^ACTORS ESTABLISHING THE CHARACTER OF NEW SECTIONS.

It is frequently difficult to decide what will be the
future character of new sections established in outlying
districts. This depends to a great extent on the class and
character of the buildings first erected and on the char¬
acter of their occupants; also on transportation facilities
and on the improvements in the nature of sewerage sys¬
tems, gas, electric light, water; the absence of nuisances,
and restrictions preventing their advent are also factors
of great importance. Those outlying sections which have
been most successfully built up have been the result of
capitalistic handling on a large scale, have included a
sufficiently large territory, and have been supplied with
needed improvements and their character established
from the start.

A good residential section may be seriously injured if
its only convenient approach is through poor or undesir¬
able property, even though this is not near enough to
affect it by proximity. People object strongly to being
brought into contact with sordid and unpleasant sur¬
roundings, especially when these may also be unhealthy.

SECTIONS OF CHANGING CHAIL-\CTER.

The competition of different utilities for the use of
land, which is especially noticeable in central locations
and is due to the greater demand brought about by in¬
crease of population and wealth, is the cause of the ten¬
dency to a constant increase in value of all desirable land
in growing cities or towns. Land in sections of chang¬
ing character may become more extensively used as when
a residence section becomes devoted to apartment houses,
or it may be used for different purposes, as when shops
and stores which establish themselves as closely as possi¬
ble to their customers, encroach on them and cause them
to move, transforming a residence section into one de¬
voted to shopping.





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