Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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810 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. I