Abstract:T his own store door, Merchant A benefits only by to traffic. Everywhere else in his trade territory, facilities for through traffic in his direction have a direct bearing on his prosperity. But in th...T his own store door, Merchant A benefits only by to traffic. Everywhere else in his trade territory, facilities for through traffic in his direction have a direct bearing on his prosperity. But in this same region are located Merchants B to Z, each of whom is interested in attracting a maximum of traffic to his store door, but feels little concern for facilitating traffic to the door of Merchant A. The conflict of these warring interests lies at the root of the problem of the standing vehicle. As in many another problem of modern city life, a solution would be reached more speedily if we could eliminate selfishness from human nature, and replace conflict with cotiperation. But, as is also true of these other problems, a kindly willingness to see things through the other fellow's eyes will not suffice; there must be the scientific approach which will substitute real insight into the problem for a mere point of view about it. It was for these reasons that The American City undertook some months ago, with the co6peration of a group of city planners and traffic consultants, to draft a set of principles which might aid municipal officials and business men in formulating local policies as to the parking and storage of automobiles, and the facilitation of street traffic and transportation. In suggesting this study these two questions were propounded: (a) Must our expanding cities look forward to constantly growing expenditures of staggering amounts for street widenings, sidewalk arcades, elevated and underground traffic ways, and other devices for permitting more and more automobiles to move-and parkin downtown business streets? (b) On the other hand, can our progressive business men no longer build big retail shops, theatres and other structures where the crowds congregate, with reasonable expectation that the city will somehow make it possible for their customers to continue to arrive-and park-by automobile? A statement of principles built up by The American City, with the adviceand, in most cases, the consent-of the collaborators' is here embodied in the paragraphs set in italic type; the rest of the present article comprises comments or additional data from various sources which may serve either to fortify the recommendations made or to present other points of view.Read More
Publication Year: 1927
Publication Date: 1927-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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