WATERSIDE AVENUES 
By John Galen Howard 
T HE old dictum for avenues “some¬ 
whither, somewhence ” applies not at all 
to waterside avenues. Instead of leading 
from one definite point to another, each mo¬ 
tived by some architectural or otherwise 
artistic feature, the waterside avenue quite 
fulfills its purpose if it be composed length¬ 
wise along successive features ; the water¬ 
scape itself, of course, be it canal, lake, river, 
ocean, determining the essential character of 
the scene. 
The life of an ordinary avenue may be and 
often is made up of its endings—the past, 
what one has come from—or the future, what 
one journeys toward. T he life of a water¬ 
side avenue is, on the contrary, in the present, 
what one is traversing at the moment. These 
are therefore pe¬ 
culiarly avenues 
of recreation, of 
immediate en¬ 
joyment and of 
beautifi cation 
(which is to say 
of decoration) 
even where, as in 
the Paris quays, 
they serve utili¬ 
tarian purposes 
as well. The 
utilitarian pur¬ 
pose may, more- 
over, be the 
source of an 
added charm in 
the living spec¬ 
tacle of the var¬ 
ious activities 
which go on 
along and upon 
the water. 
The Thames, 
the Seine, the 
Arno, the Elbe, 
the Danube, 
these are them¬ 
selves arteries of 
the great towns that have clustered along 
their banks. They are indeed the features 
which determined that clustering in one 
place rather than another. A tremendous 
freightage, human and mercantile, is trans¬ 
ported over their waters. The life of the 
great centers of civilization is largely carried 
on upon them. The low-sunk, heavy-laden 
merchants’ craft that slip so noiselessly along 
the watery reaches are big with possibilities 
of history and romance, for they bring the 
ends of the earth here under one’s very eyes; 
while in the flying passenger boats crowds 
the human race in little. For spectacular 
effect, therefore, for kaleidoscopic and pan¬ 
oramic interest, nothing can exceed the ad¬ 
vantage possessed by the shoreways which 
border such 
streams. 
Practically all 
the great cities 
of Europe have 
seized these op¬ 
portunities to 
build alongside 
of their water¬ 
ways charming 
promenades, and 
in many cases 
parks, breathing 
spaces where 
business and 
pleasure are com¬ 
bi ned in a d e - 
lightful way. Of 
them all, Paris, 
first always to 
evolve the artis¬ 
tic elements of a 
proposition, eas¬ 
ily leads in the 
wise prodigality 
with which she 
has developed 
the banks of her 
great river. 
From Charenton 
A BIT OF OLD ROTTERDAM 
164 
