Page:John Nolen--New ideals in the planning of cities.djvu/62

NEW IDEALS IN THE PLANNING OF points and through sections which need the aid and encouragement of good transportation facilities for their development into important centers. Such a street railway system can be created only where the system of main thoroughfares which forms the routes which must be used by general traffic is established with a primary view to providing adequate facilities for transportation,

The first discovery in almost every city where systematic studies have been made for the improvement of transportation has been that the street railway system is poorly planned and will not permit of such a routing of the railway lines as is necessary for thoroughly good service. These conditions are found in their most aggravated forms in the central areas toward which the lines converge. The only really efficient remedy, as a rule, is the widening or opening of streets, but as this involves heavy expense and the destruction of valuable property, it is seldom applied, and various makeshifts are adopted. When the city reaches metropolitan proportions and the congestion becomes intolerable, the elevated railroad or subway is resorted to, which often increases rather than decreases the evils for which a remedy is sought.

From the point of view o£ city planning, the most important thing to keep in mind is that thoroughly economic and satisfactory transportation facilities cannot be provided in any city until the street planning and street railway authorities work in cooperation in providing the necessary extensions and improvements. Street systems have been extended more or less arbitrarily, without proper consideration of their availability for purposes of general transportation. The failure to do this is often what makes subways necessary. Cities should have a coordinated system of thoroughfares. They should be planned with a view of