WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en 00:00:20.001 --> 00:00:26.000 Sidewalks and streets where once there were fields, steel 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:28.000 and concrete instead of trees. 00:00:33.001 --> 00:00:39.000 New York, Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:43.001 American cities, big, bigger, biggest. 00:00:44.001 --> 00:00:47.001 All have one important thing in common. 00:00:48.001 --> 00:00:53.001 Every one of our cities, whatever its size or location, is a crossroad nation. 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:02.000 The first settlements were founded as transfer points, where there was a change 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.000 from one form of transport to another. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:10.001 For from the beginning, tools were needed, as well as medicine, clothing, 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:15.000 weapons, goods they could get from Europe only by trade. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:20.001 And trade, as always, was dependent on transportation, by land 00:01:20.001 --> 00:01:22.001 and by water. 00:01:25.001 --> 00:01:30.000 So towns sprouted around busy harbors, handling goods and passengers. 00:01:31.001 --> 00:01:38.001 First on the east coast, then on the Gulf, much later on the west coast. 00:01:40.001 --> 00:01:44.001 Other cities likewise began as river or lake transfer points 00:01:44.001 --> 00:01:46.001 on the great inland waterways. 00:01:49.001 --> 00:01:52.001 Cities have grown where there was water to turn the wheels of factories, 00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:01.001 near mineral resources, where there was 00:02:01.001 --> 00:02:08.000 oil, iron, coal, and near refineries of these resources. 00:02:12.001 --> 00:02:18.000 Some cities grew midway between sources of raw materials used in the manufacture 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.001 of a finished product, such as steel. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:32.000 Others grew near inland transfer points, where products of the surrounding rural 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.000 region were brought to be stored, or shipped to larger markets. 00:02:39.001 --> 00:02:45.000 Certain cities situated in mild, even climates have grown as centers for 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.000 relaxation and convalescence. 00:02:49.001 --> 00:02:55.001 From the start, certain young towns expanded faster than the rest. 00:02:56.001 --> 00:03:02.000 As commerce grew at transfer points, industry, business, and communication tended 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.000 to centralize in those cities. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:10.001 Proximity of raw materials and labor naturally stimulated further growth. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:18.000 The greatest expansion followed the Civil War. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:23.001 Industrial centers grew by leaps and bounds as factories doubled and tripled. 00:03:25.001 --> 00:03:32.000 After 1890, waves of immigrants, many bringing urban skills, swelled 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:33.001 the size of our cities. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.000 Again, new types of farm machinery cut down the number of people needed on farms. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.000 Young people headed for the cities to live and work. 00:03:47.001 --> 00:03:53.001 And with the passing decades, those cities grew fastest that were situated as 00:03:53.001 --> 00:03:57.000 transfer points handling goods and services of the 00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:58.001 nation's most productive areas. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:07.000 Physically, a handful of our cities were planned from the start, like 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:09.000 Washington's famed wheel and spoke design. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.001 And the gridiron pattern, a popular 19th century city plan. 00:04:18.001 --> 00:04:25.000 But due to the incredibly rapid expansion, most cities outdistanced their 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:31.000 planners when there were any, and grew into a maze of complexity and confusion. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:37.001 This is the profile of a city, any city. 00:04:39.001 --> 00:04:44.001 To the left is the center of business. Next is the zone of warehouses, 00:04:44.001 --> 00:04:46.000 terminals, and old homes. 00:04:47.001 --> 00:04:51.000 Moderately priced apartments occupy the third zone. The fourth zone 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.000 has single family homes. 00:04:54.001 --> 00:05:00.000 When a metropolitan area grows, these zones expand to take in more area. 00:05:02.001 --> 00:05:07.000 Politically, metropolitan areas often straddle state and county boundaries. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.000 Included in these areas are many small political units, 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.000 cities, villages, townships. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.001 There's overlapping duplication and conflict in government functions of these 00:05:20.001 --> 00:05:25.001 various units as regards highways, schools, water supply, and taxes. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.000 A city's problems increase with its size. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.001 Because of this lack of discipline planning, many of our large cities 00:05:39.001 --> 00:05:41.001 have paid a terrible price. 00:05:44.001 --> 00:05:50.000 High land values and crowded buildings, crowded streets, 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:55.001 traffic jams, and costly delays in distributing goods. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:01.000 A general decline in warm neighborly relationships. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:09.001 Far too little chance for fresh air and sunlight. 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.000 A higher cost per person for essential services. 00:06:17.001 --> 00:06:21.000 It has even become difficult for the average citizen to actively take 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:22.001 part in his local government. 00:06:26.001 --> 00:06:30.000 But we've come a long way to an exciting era. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.001 Reasons which determine the original location of cities once so significant 00:06:36.001 --> 00:06:39.000 no longer apply today. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.000 Factories can be built almost anywhere since power 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.001 can be made available anywhere. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:01.001 Instantaneous communication makes it possible for parts of a single company to be 00:07:01.001 --> 00:07:03.000 hundreds of miles apart. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:11.000 Many plants, once dependent on railroads and water transport, are 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:12.001 today free to build elsewhere. 00:07:14.001 --> 00:07:19.001 Some businesses, taking advantage of an increasingly mobile labor force, are 00:07:19.001 --> 00:07:21.000 moving to the low rent outskirts. 00:07:22.001 --> 00:07:26.001 And so are families which can afford houses in the country. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:30.000 The trend is away from the congested center. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:38.001 A difficult perplexing job 00:07:38.001 --> 00:07:40.001 faces today's city planners. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:46.000 We must work within the limits of a basically rigid structure. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:53.001 Whole sections of buildings must be blasted to make way for new 00:07:53.001 --> 00:07:55.000 avenues and boulevards. 00:07:56.001 --> 00:08:01.001 New schools. New playgrounds. 00:08:01.001 --> 00:08:05.000 Low-cost housing developments. More efficient. More healthy. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:12.001 Though plagued by such problems as health, housing and traffic, the very size of 00:08:12.001 --> 00:08:15.000 a large city has certain definite advantages. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:22.001 In an abundance of special services, a variety of employment, 00:08:24.001 --> 00:08:31.001 up-to-date facilities, and a city with its large, interested audiences encourages 00:08:31.001 --> 00:08:33.000 a rich cultural life. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.000 Concerts, galleries, lectures, the theater. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:50.000 If we plan well, urban Americans will someday enjoy more of the advantages of 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:55.000 a large city without many of the penalties they now are forced to pay.