Page:John Nolen--New ideals in the planning of cities.djvu/94

NEW IDEALS IN THE PLANNING OF Company. A fuller list is given in Report to Bridgeport, Conn., Chamber of Commerce, entitled "More Houses for Bridgeport." The first report of the U. S. Housing Corporation has recently been issued describing the war housing of the United States.

One of the most important city planning aspects of housing is the removal of the factory and the home to the city outskirts, thus instituting a process of industrial and residential decentralization.

The main points for consideration in this process are the following:

1. What location generally is the best for factories in order to secure factory efficiency?

2. What location for factories and for homes for factory employees is most advantageous for the city as a whole? 3. Most fundamental of all, assuming that factories are located on the outskirts of a city, where should the men and women employed in these factories be encouraged to live?

(1) The first question is concerned with factory efficiency. So far as location goes, the main items that determine factory efficiency are as follows: (a) cheap land; (b) land in large blocks, unbroken and uninterrupted by public streets; (c) ample and convenient freight facilities and railroad sidings; (d) success in obtaining and holding employees who are well housed at low rates in a good environment.

(2) The second important question is, what location for factories and for homes for employees in factories is most advantageous for the city as a whole? This question may be answered in favor of the outskirts, for three reasons: (a) the city needs its centrally located land for business