Buffalo 



THE PARK SYSTEM AND THE CITY PLAN 



The park system of Buffalo is one of the most interesting of America. Less 

 extended than that of Boston, it yet offers a remarkable variety. It reaches not 

 merely around the city but into its heart, at Niagara Square. It will be observed 

 that Buffalo has a very admirable street system. L'Enfant, who planned Washington, 

 planned Buffalo. He was a genius. Haussmann, who came sixty years later to 

 Paris, adopted the Washington plan in principle, and Paris has been made beautiful 

 in forty years. Why not Philadelphia ? 



The central portion of the business area of Buffalo, to and from which the 

 traffic flows, is marked by Niagara Square, and from that Square the streets branch 

 out like the ribs of a fan. Philadelphia can adopt this plan in many outlying sections ; 

 and its chief idea, that of direct communication between important sections, should 

 undoubtedly be adopted. It is astonishing how hard it is to rid the city of the 

 octopus that was put upon it unknowingly by William Penn, when for a city of 

 but two square miles he planned a system of streets which was not objectionable 

 perhaps for a city of that size, but which is absurd for our present vast area. 



It will be observed that Buffalo's park system is not yet complete, as a short 

 connecting link is to be contructed between the northern and southern sections. 



An attractive feature of Buffalo, as of Washington, is the circular parks which, 

 located at the intersection of several streets, resulting from its plan, end the vistas 

 of those streets very attractively. It has two unique "Squares," because, while 

 rectangular in outline, they are placed at angles of forty-five degrees to the streets 

 that come into them with their centers at the points at which the streets, if con- 

 tinued, would intersect, again creating attractive vistas. The widest parkway of. 

 Buffalo is the Scajaquada, 300 feet in width and three-fifths of a mile in length. 

 Buffalo has also several parkways 200 feet in width, the width that is becoming 

 the standard in this country. Its total park area is 1,049 acres. 



Although its population is but one -third of Philadelphia's, Buffalo has more 

 than twice as many small triangles less than one acre in extent. It seems remarkable 

 that Philadelphia should have been so backward in taking advantage of the oppor- 

 tunities offered by the few diagonal avenues that have managed to retain a place on 

 the city plan, such as Passayunk Avenue, Ridge Avenue, Germantown Avenue and 

 others. There is no reason why the city should not secure them and employ a 

 sufficient number of men to look after them. The fact that these small intersections 

 have been frequently placed under the charge of the Bureau of Highways is no 

 reason why they should continue so. They should be taken from that Bureau and 

 given to the Bureau of City Property, whose duty it should be to make and keep 

 them beautiful. 



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