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