GARDEN CITIES 133 



actually made in his house and lot. The city's income doubles 

 every five years (it is now fifteen years old), and in fifty years, at 

 this rate, it will have an annual income of about $5,000,000. 

 And since it will never have to pay back Mr. Cadbury's gift of 

 about $775,000, the city will have a large sum available for build- 

 ing other cities like Bournville. 



The most important idea in all these garden cities is that 

 represented by Letchworth, a suburb of London, which is thirty- 

 four miles north of the metropolis, but reached by the best trains 

 in less than an hour. For Letchworth has shown how we may 

 build cities fully up to the Bournville standard without depending 

 on magnificent gifts. When I saw Letchworth in 1908, the city 

 was less than five years old, yet it had a population of 6,000 and 

 there were twenty-one factories. It comprises 3,818 acres, of 

 which 2,500, or 65 per cent., are perpetually reserved for an agri- 

 cultural belt. Thus, the people of Letchworth will always be 

 sure of a broad, restful country scene, even if London should 

 build up solidly around the' city. Moreover, they will derive a 

 profit from this land, because it will be rented to market gardeners 

 and dairymen. This unique feature is wholly in addition to the 

 regular park system, for 200 acres, nearly one sixth of the town 

 site, are devoted to public parks and playgrounds, including an 

 eighteen-hole golf course. 



Letchworth can never be crowded. The population is limited 

 to 35,000, an average of nine persons to the acre for the whole 

 tract, or twenty-three per acre for the town site. Twelve families 

 to the acre is the maximum, and even in this case every family has 

 a lot equal to 36.3 x 100 feet, which gives the poorest residents a 

 fair-sized garden, and 45 per cent, better than the typical city 

 lot of New York. 



