Page:John Nolen--New ideals in the planning of cities.djvu/65

CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES Straight streets for rapid transit facilities are most desirable, although curves having an easy radius are not objectionable in operation, nor do they add materially to the initial cost. In the development of a city plan the entire elimination of any terminals for rapid transit service within the business district should be considered essential. Operating lines should extend in from the outer districts, pass through the business district, and extend out again to the exterior sections of the city. Adequate facilities for transportation are best obtained by the provision of main straight arteries for rapid transit from a central district to the outlying suburbs, and then from the various stations on these radial lines, provision should be made for local and subsidiary distribution by means of surface transportation.

Books and articles of special value in connection with the street railways and the city plan are: the reports of Bion J. Arnold on Pittsburgh, Chicago, and other cities; the writings of John V. Davies; the articles and reports of Delos F. Wilcox; the Proceedings of the National Conference on City Planning, 1913; and the report of the Royal Commission on London Traffic, 1911.

The engineer working on city planning problems is nearly always confronted with two extreme alternatives. He may plan for the perfect solution of the problems on paper, practically regardless of existing conditions, or he may accept present conditions in their entirety and simply build on them as a basis. A sound analysis of the whole problem with due regard to the original and acquired rights of all parties, including always the general public, will usually lead to a middle course of compromise. Many good suggestions and features of a city plan fail of acceptance