54 



largest advantages possible to be secured in a town residence, and there 

 is no good reason why they should not be of a permanent character. 

 With the modern advantages for locomotion which would be available, 

 the departure from the old-fashioned compactness of towns might be 

 carried to this extent, in that part of them devoted to residences, with- 

 out any serious inconvenience. The unwholesome fashion of packing 

 dwelling-houses closely in blocks grew, as we have shown, out of the 

 defensive requirements of old towns ; it may possibly be necessary to 

 continue it under certain circumstances, as, for the reasons already in- 

 dicated, on the island of New York, but where there is no necessary 

 boundary, either natural or artificial, to the space which is to be occu- 

 pied by buildings, as is the case with Brooklyn, it is, to say the least, 

 unwise to persist in arrangements which will permanently prevent any 

 indulgence of this kind. 



Those who availed themselves of the opportunity here proposed to 

 be offered would not benefit themselves alone, but the whole commu- 

 nity. The Romans seem to have been wiser than we have been in 

 this particular. Rich people were offered every facility for sur- 

 rounding their houses with open garden spaces, and the larger part 

 of the Eternal City was composed of what we should now term de- 

 tached villas, while in no part w T as it permitted that a new house, 

 even though intended for the residence of slaves, should be built within 

 five feet of walls previously erected. 



How far it might be desirable for property-owners to extend the plan 

 in the peculiar form suggested, is, of course, an open question, depend- 

 ing on the anticipated demand for lots of the size indicated, but it will 

 be readily seen that as the proposed subdivisions are not of the ordinary 

 contracted character, a comparatively small number of residents will 

 suffice to fill up a considerable stretch of ground laid out in this way, 

 and it is also evident that if, within a reasonable time, it should become 

 certain that a specific number of blocks would be carried out on this 

 plan, the lots included within the boundaries determined on would not 

 require to be improved in regular succession, but would be selected 

 with reference to slight, fancied advantages anywhere along the line, 

 every purchaser feeling satisfied that the main question of good neigh- 

 borhood had been settled on a satisfactory basis at the outset. 



ADVANTAGES OF THE PARKWAY LIKELY TO BE SECURED TO 

 BROOKLYN EXCLUSIVELY. 



Having so fully described, in its principal aspects, the question of the 

 desirability of developing, in Brooklyn, a plan of public improvement of 

 the general character indicated, it may be projier for us to enquire 

 whether the broad streets which arc proposed to be opened on New 



