COMMUNITY PLANNING
So far we have been considering the community with regard to how its
people associate, with community psychology and behavior. But we must
not forget that the community has a physical basis. The buildings which
house these associations at the community center, the church, the
school, the grange hall, the stores, with the roads which radiate from
it and the farmsteads which they serve, these are the structures which,
with the natural topography of stream and hill, give material form to
the community and condition its life.
One of the chief difficulties in the development of rural communities in
the United States is that, like Topsy, they have "just growed." Village
centers have sprung up here and there and gradually the surrounding
countryside becomes associated with them. As a result little
consideration has been given to planning the community either for
efficiency or attractiveness. Sinclair Lewis' description of Gopher
Prairie in "Main Street" may be overdrawn and unjust to many a rural
community, but it describes conditions which are so common that it has
aroused the public conscience concerning the lack of civic spirit in
rural communities.
A community is much like an individual. The man who is slouchy and
careless of his personal appearance is rarely a strong character. The
community whose cemetery is neglected, whose school grounds are a mass
of mud and the outhouses a disgrace, whose lawns are unkept, where
ash-piles and neglected puddles fill the vacant lots, whose roads are
tortuous and unimproved, whose farm houses are unpainted and whose
barnyards are more prominent than the door-yards--such a community is
usually weak. It has little pride in itself or desire for improvement.
In the case of the man who is "down and out," if we wish to give him a
new start, we encourage him to take a bath and a shave and we then
furnish him clean clothes, so that looking more respectable he may act
the part. Likewise in community improvement a "clean up day" is often
one of the best means of starting a new pride among its people.
But improving its looks will not remedy the more fundamental structural
defects which frequently handicap the rural community. Utility as well
as beauty is essential in community arrangement. If the community is to
escape ugliness and inconvenience, it will sooner or later come to the
time when it must definitely plan the arrangement of its streets and
roads, its public buildings and its open spaces, so as to best serve all
parts of the community. Community planning is as essential to
satisfactory "community housekeeping" as the plan of a house is for the
convenience of the home. An architect is needed to plan a home for the
community, a community structure which is mechanically sound and
efficient and withal both beautiful and comfortable, just as much as for
designing a house. So the art of "town planning" is extending from the
cities to the country and some of our landscape architects who love the
countryside and appreciate its life and problems are giving their
attention to rural community planning.[88]
This is not the place to enter into any extended discussion of the art
of community planning, but we may well consider a few principles which
are essential for realizing the ideals of community development.
As the community center is the nucleus of the community life, let us
first consider the village plan.
One enters the community at the railroad station or by a main road. It
is, of course, impossible to prevent the property adjoining a railroad
from being the least attractive, because it is the most undesirable for
residence purposes; but it is entirely practicable to have a neat
railroad station with well-kept surroundings. Some of our more
progressive railroad companies have perceived that it is good business
to make their stations and grounds attractive and most of them will be
willing to meet the local people halfway in an effort to improve their
appearance. In far too many cases the grounds of the railroad station
and the adjoining properties are the most neglected spot in the village
and give an unfavorable impression of the community. Certainly we would
think a man queer who placed the back-door of his house to the street,
but the railroad station is usually the back-door of the community
instead of the main entrance as it should be. On the other hand, on
alighting at a well-kept station, with a neat lawn, good walks and
roads, which is not surrounded by the village rubbish heaps and
dilapidated buildings, the newcomer feels that here is a place which
invites further acquaintance, while the native has a sense of
satisfaction rather than of apology.
The same principles apply to main road entrances to the village. The
automobile has greatly increased highway travel. Where a village places
a sign at its entrance "Welcome to Smithville," and at its exit "Come
Again," as is now frequently done, it not only makes a favorable
impression on the tourist, but it gives the community a sense of
identity. In New England these signs are frequently placed, at the
township line rather than at the village boundary. In a few cases
villages have erected dignified stone pillars or arches at the entrance
points.
The building of state roads between village centers has almost
necessitated paving or hard roads in the village, for people resent
traveling over a good road in the open country and then plowing through
mud holes in a village. Not infrequently the streets of the incorporated
village are much poorer than the state roads outside the village and
although incorporation formerly enabled the village to do its own paving
and make other public improvements, the unincorporated village now has
the advantage of having its main roadways constructed as a part of state
or county road systems at less expense to the villagers. In any event
the paving of the principal streets of the village should be considered
an obligation of the whole community, not only of the village but of the
farm area surrounding it--_i.e._, the township, for on them the traffic
of the whole community centers and in many cases the farmers of the
community do more actual hauling over the village streets than do the
people of the village. It is, of course, entirely proper, where state
laws permit, to assess part of the cost of village pavements on the
abutting property, but it is short-sighted economy for farmers to object
to sharing in the cost of such improvements in their community centers.
When we come to a consideration of the general plan or layout of the
village, it is obvious that in older communities it is hardly
practicable to make material changes. In the old New England villages a
part of the original town common has often been preserved as a "common"
or park in the center of the village with a broad expanse of lawn and
stately shade trees, while newer communities have frequently been laid
out around a central open square. Here is the flagpole and the Soldiers'
Monument or other historic memorials, and possibly a fountain or
watering trough, and sometimes a band stand. It is a place where
open-air meetings of all sorts, band concerts and community singing, may
be held. It is the modern substitute for the forum of the old Roman
town. When one compares a village which is merely strung along a main
roadway, or two crossroads, with one which has such a civic center, he
cannot but feel that the latter has a physical structure which gives it
an identity and a common interest which is lacking in the former and
which must mean much in the maintenance of community pride and which
must give much better opportunity for outdoor gatherings of all sorts.
In planning a new community such a public square should be a central
feature. Around it may be built the school, the town hall or community
house, the churches, the library and other public buildings. If large
enough it should include tennis courts and a playground. Where the main
streets are already occupied with business blocks and residences, it may
be possible to secure a square not far from the village center where a
new school building or community house may be erected and which may
include a playground, bandstand, and whatever features are desired, even
if it is necessary to place it at the edge of the village. Wherever
possible the playground should adjoin the school building or community
house, or both. Either as a feature of the playground or adjoining it,
there should be a baseball diamond and bleachers or grandstand. Such a
civic center will be found to be a powerful factor in the maintenance of
community pride and loyalty.[89]
The growth of automobile touring has encouraged the provision of camping
sites for tourists on the edge of the village. Wherever a suitable
grove or other natural setting can be found nearby a village it should
be reserved as a public picnic ground or park. A part of this might also
be made available for a tourists' camp, and often it will be a good
location for a ball diamond. There has recently been a steady growth of
interest in community fairs and such a picnic ground or park might well
be arranged with an open space adjoining it for fair and festival
purposes.
These general features and facilities of the village plan are not simply
for the advantage or beautification of the village, but they benefit the
life of the whole community and should be considered as features of the
community's plant.
When we leave the village center and survey the farming area of the
community, the most fundamental feature of its structure is the road
plan. In hilly regions the location of roads is necessarily largely
determined by topography, but over most of the Middle West the roads
were laid out on section lines at the time of the original surveys and
their location has never been changed. One who has grown up in that
section feels a sort of pride in the straight roads and looks askance at
the crooked roads of the East, but as a matter of fact the latter are in
many cases much better located as regards their utility, for they were
laid out to reach certain centers by the most direct route. On the other
hand, the location of the village centers of the Middle West was largely
determined by the railroad stations, and the roads were located without
regard to them. As a result it is almost always necessary to traverse
two sides of a square in order to reach the community center. This
means that such a route is forty percent longer from the corners of the
community than it would be by a straight line. This was bad enough with
dirt roads, and if all the roads could be hard-surfaced, the automobile
would, of course, lessen the time required for travel. It is, however,
economically impossible to improve all minor roads and with the high
cost of macadam, concrete, brick, or other hard-surface, not only for
original cost but for upkeep, it seems absurd to continue to build the
main roads on rectangular lines rather than by the shortest route
between the most-traveled points. The saving in cost of construction and
maintenance would much more than pay for the cost of all land which it
would be necessary to condemn for their right-of-way, and the saving in
time and cost of transportation for the whole community would amount to
a large sum every year. Far too little attention has been given by road
engineers to community planning, and with the vast sums which are now
being expended by the federal, state and county governments on permanent
roads, it is of the utmost importance that this matter of road location
with regard to directness of access to the community centers should
receive much more careful study and better supervision by all the
authorities concerned, not only with regard to topography, but with
regard to the social and economic welfare of the areas concerned. The
newer sections of the country, and particularly western Canada, have
become aware of this lack of economy in road location and are giving it
consideration. In a report on Rural Planning and Development prepared
for the Canadian Commission on Conservation, Mr. Thomas Adams, the town
planning adviser of the commission, has outlined several plans for the
better location of roads so that they will radiate from the community
center and has shown that it is entirely possible to retain rectangular
farm plans with radial roads.[90] He summarizes his discussion of this
matter as follows:
"The main points of contention in this chapter are:--That
the present system of surveying land for the purpose of
securing accurate boundaries to arbitrary divisions and
sub-divisions of land, while satisfactory for that purpose,
is not a method of planning land, but only a basis on which
to prepare planning and development schemes; that no
definite or stereotyped system of planning can be
satisfactory for general application; that all plans should
have regard to the physical and economic conditions of the
territory to which they apply and should be made for the
general purpose of securing healthy conditions, amenity,
convenience and economic use of the land; and that more
complete and adequate surveys and a comprehensive
classification of land is essential to secure successful and
permanent land settlement." (p. 71)
Another feature of community planning which is coming to receive larger
attention is the preservation of unusual geological and scenic features
for the use of public. One of the scenic attractions most commonly
neglected is the land along waterways. Sometimes the land on one side of
a stream is occupied by a road, but in many cases it is private
property. If reserved to the public many of these watercourses might be
most attractive parkways. In many cases the control of waterways has
been necessitated for the maintenance of the purity of the water supply
and the advantage of having the adjoining land--usually more or less
wooded--available for picnic parties has encouraged the extension of
public control of waterways. Several states now have legislation
permitting counties or towns to acquire such areas for park purposes,
and the Province of Ontario and some other Canadian provinces require
that a width of 66 feet be reserved around all lakes and rivers.
In order to utilize the waste land of the watersheds and to protect the
shores of reservoirs and streams which furnish public water supplies,
many cities have reforested considerable areas, which will be maintained
as public forests and will be cut as the timber becomes merchantable.
This movement has called attention to the practicability of establishing
town or community forests on cheap land unsuitable for tillage, as a
source of income to the community. Communal forests have existed in
Europe for many centuries, and at the present time form 22 percent of
the forests in France. A movement has now commenced for the planting of
town forests in this country,[91] and the better utilization of the
community's waste land by planting it in timber should be considered a
feature of community planning.
The improvements effected in cities through city planning commissions,
both with regard to street location for the better routing of traffic,
and the laying out of parks and the location of public buildings, have
been so apparent, that the idea has been taken up by rural communities
and a few states have passed legislation for the creation of special
agencies for rural community planning. Thus Massachusetts has for
several years had a Town Planning Commission and in 1919 Wisconsin
passed an act[92] creating a division on rural planning of the State
Department of Agriculture, and creating rural planning committees in
each county. In 1920 thirty-six counties had organized such committees
under this law and had already accomplished much under its
authority.[93] Some of the more progressive land companies which are
colonizing new lands in northern Wisconsin are making definite community
plans to encourage settlement,[94] and in California the State Land
Settlement Board has done much to encourage better rural planning by the
demonstrations which it has made in its farm colonies at Durham and
Delhi.[95] The Extension Services of several of the State agricultural
colleges have experts on landscape art who give assistance in the
improvement of public grounds and in community planning.
A system of numbering farms has recently been invented which is based
upon the relations of farms to their community centers and which
therefore makes necessary the definite location of rural community areas
and their boundaries. This is known as the "Clock System" rural index
and is now in use in four counties in New York State. The county map
published in the directory shows the different communities outlined by
heavily shaded lines and the farm numbers radiate from the community
centers. On the map each community is divided as a spider's web into a
number of small spaces by twelve dotted lines that extend from each
village on the same radii as the hour-marks on the dial of a clock, and
by concentric circles which are a mile apart from each community center.
Each set of lines and circles extends to the community boundary, and the
farm is given a number which shows the sector in which it is located
with reference to the distance from the community center. In front of a
farm will be found a number, usually just below the mail box, such as
Alton 3-2-K. This indicates that the farm is in the direction of the 3
o'clock mark on a clock, or east, of Alton; the second term, 2, shows
that it is between two and three miles from Alton and the letter K
enables one to locate the individual farm on the small area between the
3 o'clock and 4 o'clock radial lines and the two and three mile circles.
In the directory accompanying the map the names of all householders are
arranged alphabetically and also serially by their numbers, so that the
name of the householder at a certain number of his location on the map
may be readily ascertained. This system not only makes necessary a
definite determination of the center and boundary of every community,
but the number itself relates the farm to its community. This is a
matter of considerable importance, for since the abolishment of many
rural postoffices the farmer's mail address may be on a rural route
starting from some railroad station or larger town which he visits only
occasionally, and has no reference to the community in which he lives.
The system was invented by a Colorado farmer, Mr. J. B. Plato, who
devised it so that it might be possible for buyers to find his farm. As
he claims, such a number "puts the farmer on the map" and gives his home
a definite location just as does the street number of the city
house.[96]
Finally, in any effort toward community planning it must be remembered
that most rural communities are, in a way, but parts of what, for want
of a better term, we may term larger communities. Not every small rural
community can support a library building, a hospital, a high school, a
moving picture theater, or a public health nurse. As has been pointed
out in the previous chapters, these agencies can be maintained only at
such centers as can command the support of several smaller communities.
Obviously they will tend to be located at the larger towns, such as the
county seats. Roads should be planned with regard to making these larger
centers most readily available to their tributary territory. It would
seem to be advantageous to the smaller communities to definitely relate
themselves to one of these larger centers in the support of some of the
more costly community services which they are unable to maintain, and an
understanding should be developed between the smaller and larger
centers, whereby the latter will not attempt to displace the former. The
larger villages and towns must recognize that the smaller nearby
communities are an economic and social asset and that the maintenance of
their village centers is essential to successful community life. On the
other hand, the smaller communities should recognize their own
limitations and should utilize the advantages of the larger centers
without jealousy of them. The county library system and the county
hospital illustrate the advantages to be obtained through the larger
community, but which are impossible without the support of the voters of
the smaller subsidiary communities.
With the growth of the community idea, and as communities become so
organized that they have some mechanism for self-examination and
self-expression, more study will be given to the physical structure of
the community as essential for economy and utility, and more pride will
be taken in making it beautiful and satisfying. Community planning is
essential for the highest type of community development.
FOOTNOTES:
[88] For a most suggestive introduction to this whole field see Prof.
Frank A. Waughs "Rural Improvement." New York, Orange Judd Co., 1914.
[89] Many plans for ideal rural community centers have been published.
Among them see N. Y. State College of Agriculture, Extension Circular
No. 1, "A Plan for a Rural Community Center"; Peter A. Speek, "A Stake
in the Land," Plate facing page 252; plans of Durham and Delhi,
California, in reports of Calif. Land Settlement Board.
One of the most comprehensive studies in rural community planning is
"Town Planning for Small Communities," by Walpole (Mass.) Town Planning
Committee. Edited by C. S. Bird.
[90] Thomas Adams, "Rural Planning and Development." Canada Commission
of Conservation, Ottawa, 1917, pp. 53-64, with illustrations.
[91] Samuel T. Dana, "Forestry and Community Development." Bulletin 638,
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
A. B. Recknagel, "County, Town, and Village Forests." N. Y. State
College of Agriculture, Cornell Reading Course for the Farm, Lesson 40,
1913.
John S. Everitt, "Working Plan for a Communal Forest for the Town of
Ithaca, N. Y.," Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Station, Bulletin 404.
[92] Chapter 693, Wis. Laws of 1919, Creating section 1458-11 of the
Statutes.
[93] See "The Survey," Dec. 25, 1920, p. 459.
[94] See Peter A. Speek, "A Stake in the Land," p. 53. New York,
Harpers, 1921.
[95] See Elwood Mead, "Helping Men Own Farms." New York, Macmillan,
1921.
[96] The "clock system" is described in detail in the writer's bulletin,
"Locating the Rural Community." Cornell Reading Course for the Farm,
Lesson 158. Information concerning it may be secured from the American
Rural Index Corporation, Ithaca, N. Y.