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The menus by which it may be made a more suitable and attractive 

 place of domestic residence than it is possible that any other point of 

 the metropolis ever will be, are equally within command. 



INFLUENCE OF THE PARK ON THE VALUE OF PROPERTY. 



The effect of what has already been done, under the direction of your 

 Commission, has been to more than quadruple the value of a certain 

 portion of this land, and we have thus an expression of the most simple 

 character, in regard to the commercial estimate which, at this period in 

 the history of towns, is placed upon the circumstance of convenient 

 access from a residence to a public pleasure-ground, and upon the sani- 

 tary and social advantages of a habitation thus situated. The advance 

 in value, in this case, is quite marked at a distance of a mile, and this 

 local advantage has certainly not been attended by any falling back in 

 the value of other land in Brooklyn. 



If we analyze the conditions of this change in value, we shall find 

 that it is not altogether, or even in any large degree, dependent upon 

 mere vicinity to the sylvan and rural attractions of the Park, but in 

 very large part, in the first place, upon the degree in which these at- 

 tractions can be approached with security from the common annoyances 

 of the streets, and with pleasure in the approach itself. If, for instance, 

 the greater part of the Park were long and narrow in form, other 

 things being equal, the demand for building sites, fronting on this por- 

 tion of it, would not, probably, be appreciably less than for those 

 fronting on the broader parts. Secondly, the advance in value will be 

 found to be largely dependent on the advantages of having near a resi- 

 dence, a place where, without reference to the sylvan attractions found 

 in a large park, driving, riding, and walking can be conveniently pur- 

 sued in association with pleasant people, and without the liability of en- 

 countering the unjdeasant sights and sounds which must generally accom- 

 pany those who seek rest, recreation or pleasure in the common streets. 



There are other things to be valued in a Park besides these, but these 

 are the main positive advantages which would make the value of a resi- 

 dence, if upon the Park, much greater than if at a distance from it. 



HOW THE ADVANTAGES OF VICINITY TO A PARK MAY BE EXTENDED. 



So far, then, as it is practicable, without an enlargement of the Park 

 in its full breadth and compass, to extend its attractions in these especial 

 respects, so far is it also practicable to enlarge the district within which 

 land will have a correspondingly increased attraction for domestic resi- 

 dences. The further the process can be carried, the more will Brooklyn, 

 as a whole, become desirable as a place of residence, the higher will be 



