THE NEW SUBURBIA 449 



Despite a popular disparagement of the suburbanite we should 

 never forget that he has some of the same human desires of his 

 city cousin and that both types will respond to sensible and humane 

 planning programs. 



Is the metropolitan plan a sterile map of near-existing conditions 

 all neatly tabulated? It must not become so ! I am convinced that 

 the natural resources of a metropolitan area are its foundational 

 determinants, and that the basic proposals for growth of the area 

 stem from these determinants. These resources can include, at the 

 least, water (both above and below ground), air, hills (if any), lake 

 fronts, etc. In the midwest or prairie region of our country, the 

 natural landscape is not as majestic or dramatic as that which is 

 found in other parts of the country. This does not mean, however, 

 that the pattern is entirely lacking in beauty and if future develop- 

 ment is properly designed, whether within the fringe area or in 

 satellite cities, the physical environment of the metropolitan area can 

 yield multipurpose benefits. 



There are at least two basic approaches to a program relating to 

 natural beauty which are applicable to the new city-region. The 

 first process is to plan, design, and redesign not only future growth, 

 but also all growth so that it is compatible with the physical environ- 

 ment, thereby restoring and preserving the natural beauty of the 

 physical setting. The second course of action is to undertake projects 

 to restore the scenic and aesthetic appeal that one time existed, but 

 which has been marred or destroyed by the hand of man. Examples 

 of such marring are : abandoned quarries, clay holes, sand and gravel 

 pits, waste laden rivers which have been channeled to the point where 

 they have the appearance of sordid ditches, commercial strips, vast 

 macadam parking lots, endless subdivisions. 



Depending upon the decision makers, whom we are advising, we 

 may suggest action in the four following areas of beauty : 



1. Neighborhood beauty that kind we find in street trees, 

 shopping center plantings, front yard landscaping, and so forth, 

 which is so characteristic of our good suburbs. 



2. Community beauty where the relationship of the manmade 

 landscape to the God-given landscape can be readily seen. The 

 relationship of streets to contours, dwellings to trees, expressways to 

 vistas, and so forth. 



3. The beauty of the purity of nature; clean water, clean air, clean 

 fields, and forests. 



