1 52 Selective Opportunism, the Surest Way 



action even if only on a piecemeal basis. In essence, one is often driven 

 to choose the better of several realistic compromises. 



The leisurely process of diagnosis, appraisal, discussion, and pro- 

 posals for unification of government in the Washington metropolitan 

 area is an example of this indoor and outdoor sport. While we attempt 

 to knit two states and the District of Columbia, numerous counties, 

 and dozens of municipalities into a single super government, the pro- 

 cession of actionists moves forward with almost astronomic speed. 

 How much better it would be to run forward with those devices, ad- 

 mittedly limited, which will bring some degree of planning sense and 

 integration into the program. 



Society furthermore must ultimately recognize that many decisions 

 made within the last twenty years have driven us into programs creat- 

 ing artificial forms of living, drying up forever open spaces, developing 

 housing abortions, and forcing social stratifications which will take 

 years to undo. Some of my best friends appear at every zoning hearing 

 to see to it that the unwelcome will be planned into my area instead 

 of theirs. Perhaps again such eventualities were inevitable, but now is 

 the time to take stock of our "barracks philosophy" in relation to the 

 program of public education which Dr. Gulick emphasizes. 



This is an appropriate occasion also to recognize the pressing neces- 

 sity for confronting ourselves with the fate of the core city — the nour- 

 ishing mother of the urban sprawl. The city still remains the root of 

 metropolitan living; a root often weakened with the benefit and bless- 

 ing of the planning clergy. Have all the values of the city been ade- 

 quately assessed, since it still remains the major firm tax base of the 

 metropolis, supplies the sinews of work and commerce, and is the 

 source of many of the resources, functions, and services upon which 

 the metropolitan area draws? 



It is not too late to place before the suburbanite the unpalatable 

 truth that the city taxes which he wished to escape are more than 

 matched by the costs of the "city-like" services which he now demands 

 and requires. Dr. Gulick and others point out that services in suburbia 

 are invariably more costly than in a city. Lot frontages per house are 

 generally greater and distances for service lines, interceptor sewers, 

 highways, energy wires are most often greater than for equivalent pop- 

 ulations in the municipality. Since only the property tax is visible in 



