City Planning and Beautification 
By Henry Busch, Michigan. 
PUBLIC parks of older countries are but an evolu- 
tion of the private estates of medieval times when 
the serfs, and later on the peasants, were per- 
mitted to enter and glory in the beauties of nature on 
days especially set aside for them, and these days being 
so few and far between, took on the aspect of holidays. 
High walls or fences usually surrounded these estates or 
parks, and their exclusiveness taught more than anything 
else that caste above all things was to be recognized. 
How fortunate that there was left this great western 
hemisphere, where was to be established a great country, 
which, in turn, was to point the way to the rest of the 
world. 
With libert)' came a higher degree of education and 
better opportunities for the masses, and it is no longer 
a question of formulating public opinion alone, but of 
being ready to meet the demands of the people as they 
arise. 
Parks, playgrounds, social centers and boulevards are 
here to stay, and it is for us to give our best thought to 
their creation and perpetuation. President Eliot of 
Harvard said : "Landscape architecture is primarily a 
fine art, and as such its most important function is to 
create and preserve beauty in the surroundings of human 
habitatioti and in the broader natural scetiery of the coun- 
try, but it is also concerned with promoting comfort, con- 
venience and health of urban populations, which have 
scanty access to rural scenery, and urgently need to have 
their hurrying, workaday lives refreshed and calmed by 
the beautiful and reposeful sights and sounds which 
nature, aided by the landscape art, can abundantly pro- 
vide." And I add, not only the satisfying of the aesthetic 
and the tickling of the vanities of man, but the practical 
should also be kept in mind. 
Broad streets or avenues are essential to traffic, and 
as cities grow, certain streets must necessarily assume 
the nature of trunk or main arteries, and radiating from 
these are necessary the numerous feeders or narrow 
streets. These wide streets or avenues are usually select- 
ed for transportation lines because of the advantages 
afiforded. The changes usually resulting work to the 
good of the commercial interests, as the increased traffic 
passing by results in increased business, and the ad- 
vantages of advertising are never overlooked when the 
attention of the masses can be attracted. The contrast, 
however, between the sordid business street and the quiet, 
restful residence thoroughfare is so apparent that we 
are soon attracted to the latter, and as our means permit 
the beautification of the residence thoroughfare follows. 
Well kept lawns, shrubbery and beautiful shade trees 
can and usually are had, and because of the pride in- 
stalled in the householder after a keen, friendly rivalry 
in care of private grounds follows and the pride men- 
tioned extends to all residents, for note how invariably 
when showing a visitor around town their steps are di- 
rected to the thoroughfares which are most pleasing. 
In recent years American cities have been establishing 
what are generally known as Boulevards. 
Boulevard (B61 var) a French word formerly applied 
to the ramparts of a fortified town, but when these were 
leveled and the whole planted with trees and laid out as 
promenades, the name Boulevard was still retained. 
Modern usage applies it also to many streets which are 
broad and planted with trees, although they were not 
originally ramparts. In other words, we know them 
today as broad continuous avenues through what has 
been or is a residential district. .In some instances such 
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a boulevard is the approach to a large park, a public 
building, or other attraction. The most advanced 
method now in vogue is to plan an entire system for the 
future, and the boulevard furnishes the connecting links 
to the various parks, thus forming a part of a compre- 
hensive whole. 
The early planning in any growing city is economical ; 
in fact it helps the growth, and, more important still, it 
preserves natural scenery. Where cities have to restore 
natural features artificially it means enormous expense. 
If a feasible working plan is adopted and the objections 
which are sure to arise in nearly every instance are over- 
come, it matters not so much who carries out the work. 
Under our system of government, changes are constantly 
being made in officials and it is highly important that a 
set plan be followed if waste and extravagance are to be 
avoided. 
In some European cities one can enter the office of the 
city engineers and there find drawings of work contem- 
plated as far as fifty years in advance, and strange to 
say they are following the plans laid down. Too much 
of the haphazard has been our policy. And don't blame 
your public officials entirely, for you, Mr. Citizen, are 
equally guilty. I would hesitate to approve an attempt 
to pattern after Europe in the matter of government, and 
yet I realize that too often under our republican form 
there is much truth to the saying, "That which is every- 
body's business is nobody's business." There is hardly 
a proposition which comes up for consideration but what 
some one at some time is prompted to act in a certain 
way because of selfish interests. 
In considering a proposed boulevard the preliminaries, 
of course, are important. First we have the idea, then 
the proposed location, and now comes the question of 
authority and funds. Often legislation is necessary, as 
many cities are not permitted to go outside their corporate 
limits to acquire land, or probably there is a limitation 
on the amount of the indebtedness that may be incurred. 
In this connection let me say that there is no reason 
why a lasting public improvement should not be paid for 
at least in part by posterity. 
One of the prejudices which had to be overcome in 
the past was the supposition that a boulevard was a rich 
man's thoroughfare. This is not borne out, as Detroit, 
as well as some other cities, have demonstrated that a 
man of moderate means can and does take advantage of 
an opportunity of this kind, provided that the abutting 
property is not so highly restricted as to value of build- 
ings to be erected thereon. 
The attractiveness of a boulevard drive depends largely 
on the amount of land available. A width of 200 feet is 
little enough, and more would be highly desirable. Con- 
tinuous straight lines should be avoided where possible 
and curves substituted, and single and double road- 
ways alternated to break any monotony. If considered 
desirable, service drives can be constructed along the 
front of the residences with an occasional opening to the 
main roadway. This would probably be necessary where 
no alleys exist in the rear of the premises. In some in- 
stances, there might be a demand for bridle paths through 
the parkway. Roadways should, however, be laid out at 
a width to make available every inch so that all remain- 
ing spaces may be used for lawn and planting. In other 
words, the roadway itself should not be wider than is 
necessary to accommodate the traffic. 
In planting the lawns and parkways care should be 
exercised in the composition and arrangement, as lack 
