50 PARKS 



CONSIDERATIONS ENTERING INTO THE STUDY 



In incorporating these general principles into a comprehensive park 

 plan for a community there are many elements to be considered, and study 

 must proceed along several lines before it is possible to vision the com- 

 munity-wide plan. Among these considerations are the following: 



Topographical Features. A more or less detailed knowledge of the 

 chief topographical features of a community is fundamentally important 

 for the reason that these features frequently determine the location of cer- 

 tain types of park and recreation properties, such as scenic parks, large 

 landscaped parks, forest reservations, parkways and boulevards. Not 

 infrequently they influence the location of playgrounds and playfields. 

 These features also influence the location quality and character of the 

 homes of the people, the location of industrial plants and transportation 

 systems, and cause all too frequently an unwholesome mixture of resi- 

 dential, industrial and transportation properties. A good topographical 

 map is a prime necessity in planning any community, urban or rural. 



Population Studies. It is of the greatest importance that detailed 

 information be secured on the population history of the community, 

 including the rate of growth, probable future growth, distribution of the 

 population throughout the community, the trend of movement of the pop- 

 ulation, the numbers in each age and sex group, and the composition of 

 the population as to nationality and character of occupations. These facts 

 are important because the types of properties, number and approximate 

 size of each type and their location and distribution are based very largely 

 on this data. 



Transportation. In planning a system of parks a thorough study of 

 the transportation situation of the community is necessarily involved. 

 Large parks and active recreation areas designed to draw large crowds 

 must have good transportation facilities to them. Large parks, however, 

 should not be so located or shaped in such a manner as to interfere seri- 

 ously with major traffic lines, neither should major traffic lines run through 

 them if it can possibly be avoided. Children's playgrounds should, if pos- 

 sible, be so located that the children need not cross main traffic ways to 

 reach them. Boulevards and parkways should be properly integrated with 

 the major street system, permitting of ready entry into the heart of the 

 city or exit to the suburbs and the open country or to large parks, or 

 they may be so planned as to provide a system of pleasure driveways 

 encircling the city and connecting the larger park units. 



