Page:John Nolen--New ideals in the planning of cities.djvu/77

CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES

Every city worthy of the name has public parks of some sort, and they are now recognized as a necessity of city life, a part of the city plan, just as streets and schools are. They contribute to the pleasure and health of urban populations more than any other recreative feature, and furnish the most necessary and valuable antidote to the artificiality, confusion, and feverishness of life in cities. At the present time the value of parks and open spaces in towns and cities is very generally appreciated. It is recognized that such facilities as parks afford are not only desirable, but increasingly necessary, in fact, indispensable. In a vague way there is approval, too, of a large increase in both parks and playgrounds. But few even of the more progressive communities appear yet to understand with any clearness that these open spaces in cities are of great variety; that they are, or should be, selected and developed by experts to serve essentially different purposes, and that the failure to appreciate this fact and to keep it constantly in mind leads to great waste and inefficiency in our .public grounds.

There are a few principles in the selection of land for parks, parkways, and -playgrounds which are finding increasing acceptance by city authorities. Briefly stated, they are as follows:

1. To acquire those easily accessible small tracts in different parts of the city which may most cheaply be adapted to serve as local playgrounds, neighborhood or recreation centers.

2. To seek also some moderately large tracts, even though less accessible for the present generation, provided they are capable of conversion at relatively small cost, which will have the beauty of natural scenery.