PART III 



L.\ND SUBDIVISION FOR RESIDENTIAL PURPOSES 



Land subdivision as a business venture — Items of expense to the developer — 

 Salable assets produced by development — Room — Proximity to town — 

 Convenience — Social desirability — Amenity — Beauty — " Low-cost" and 

 "high-cost" developments — Professional advice in land subdivision — 

 Procedure in design — Choice of type of development in relation to 

 development of city — The street system : its relation to the city plan — 

 Alleys — Characteristic effects of street systems — Streets in relation to topog- 

 raphy — Sub-surface utilities — Street widths — Roadways and planting strips 

 — Sidewalks — Lots : sizes — Width and depth — Shape — Orientation — Re- 

 served areas — Restrictions — Districting. 



The subdivision and development of land for residential purposes is Land Sub- 

 different from most of the problems with which the landscape architect ^^^^/on as a 

 has to do, because the final success of the design is usually tested by the p'enture 

 pecuniary value of the finished result. In private estate design, in 

 park design, many things are done which, while the designer knows them 

 to be worth their cost, cannot be demonstrated to produce a definite 

 profit in dollars and cents. In land subdivision work, however, except 

 when it is a part of some philanthropic movement, every cent spent by 

 the owner for acquisition and development must show a fair profit 

 when the property is again sold. 



Land subdivision for residential purposes is a business venture which Items of 



consists in the development of land which is not intensively used, — Expense to the 



Developer 

 perhaps "waste land," woodland, or farm, — providing for proper 



access, lighting, water supply, sewerage, and so on, or at least some of 



these conveniences, and selling what remains of the land, after that 



portion turned over to the public has been set apart, in small areas at a 



profit. In doing this, the selling price of the land must in one way or 



another be charged with the cost of the following items of the develop- 



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