30 COMMISSION ON BUILDING DISTRICTS 



(4) Each family suffers more and more from the noises from neigh- 

 boring families. 



(5) Privacy is diminished. ' 



(6) The children have less and less opportunity for outdoor play. 



(7) The danger from fire, both to life and property, is increased. 



(8) The transit lines become more and more congested during the 

 rush hours. 



It is therefore essential in the interest of the public health, safety, 

 comfort, convenience and general welfare that a housing plan be adopted 

 that will tend to distribute the population and secure to each section as much 

 light, air and relief from congestion as is consistent with the housing of 

 the entire population for a considerable period of years within the areas 

 accessible and appropriate for housing purposes. 



In order to provide the' people of the city with the kinds of homes that 

 they desire, are willing to pay for and that will bring the maximum advan- 

 tage from the point of view of public health and safety, it is absolutely 

 necessary to district the city in such a way as to encourage and conserve 

 particular types of building in particular sections. 



The control of the intensity of use of land cannot safely be left to 

 economic forces. Unless for each section standards of height and area 

 covered are fixed, the tendency will be to build up solidly to the extent per- 

 mitted by the Tenement House Law. The real demand for single family 

 houses and for multi-family houses with adequate yards and open spaces 

 will not be supplied because builders and investors have learned that such 

 developments are in danger of being ruined by the erection of a few neigh- 

 boring buildings of a different and more intensive type. 



Tenants move away from the congested centers in order to secure better 

 light and air. But if after a few years the bright, sunny building to which 

 they have moved becomes surrounded by buildings similar in height, yard 

 and court provisions to the building in the congested center in which they 

 were formerly located, the desirability of the new location for this class of 

 tenants disappears and rentable values are likely to be seriously impaired. 

 A proper districting plan will insure that wherever probable intensity of 

 demand will permit, a certain measure of the improved light and air con- 

 ditions that have attracted tenants to the new location shall be permanently 

 retained. 



Private developers in suburban residence districts have found that 

 in order to attract purchasers it is necessary to place uniform restrictions 

 on the land against improvement by multi-family dwellings. The surround- 

 ings and neighborhood are all-important in securing desirable home con- 

 ditions. Unless the private residential character of the section is fixed for 

 a considerable number of years no one can afford to build a home. This 

 method of private restriction frequently fails either because the territory 

 covered is not sufficiently inclusive or because the restriction is limited to 

 a short term of years. In recent years the development of detached house 



