Page:John Nolen--New ideals in the planning of cities.djvu/57

CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES in most cities is quite ample ; but its distribution has been arbitrary and unsystematic. The practice of maintaining uniformity of widths throughout a street system has been carried too far. Only a few streets become important through the establishment of business upon them, or through the requirements of transportation. There has been much discussion of the merits and demerits of classification and standardization as aids in the establishment of street widths.

The facts which should control street widths are: (1) the width required for a line of vehicles, usually fixed at eight or nine feet, thus determining road units; (2) the width required for a line of pedestrians, thus fixing sidewalk