Chapter 14 of 18 · 7525 words · ~38 min read

CHAPTER VI

NATURAL FEATURES OF CHICAGO: NECESSITY FOR COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT OF THE STREET SYSTEM: STREETS WITHIN THE CITY: THE RESIDENCE STREET, THE AVENUE, AND THE BOULEVARD: STREET ARCHITECTURE: THE STREETS OF CHICAGO: PROPOSED NEW CIRCUITS

Chicago has two dominant natural features: the expanse of Lake Michigan, which stretches, unbroken by islands or peninsulas, to the horizon; and a corresponding area of land extending north, west, and south without hills or any marked elevation. These two features, each immeasurable by the senses, give the scale. Whatever man undertakes here should be either actually or seemingly without limit. Great thoroughfares may lead from the water back into the country interminably; broad boulevards may skirt the Lake front, or sweep through the city; but their beginnings on the north, on the south, or on the west must of necessity be points that move along determined lines with the growth of population. Other harbors have channels winding among islands or around jutting promontories until the landlocked basin is reached; but Chicago must throw out into the open water her long arms of piled-up rock in order to gather in safety the storm-tossed vessels. Other cities may climb hills and build around them, crowning the elevations with some dominating structure; but the people of Chicago must ever recognize the fact that their city is without bounds or limits. Elsewhere, indeed, man and his works may be taken as the measure; but here the city appears as that portion of illimitable space now occupied by a population capable of indefinite expansion.

Whatever may be the forms which the treatment of the city shall take, therefore, the effects must of necessity be obtained by repetition of the unit. If the characteristics set forth suggest monotony, nevertheless such are the limitations which nature has imposed; and unless the problem is faced squarely no treatment proposed will seem adequate or will prove lastingly satisfactory. On the other hand, the opportunity now exists to create out of these very conditions a city which shall grow into both convenience and order, and shall possess all the means of making its citizens prosperous and contented.

It is in the grouping of buildings united by a common purpose—whether administrative, educational, or commercial—that one must find an adequate method of treatment; or again, in far-stretching lines of lagoons, inviting the multitudes to seek recreation along the endless miles of water front; or in broad avenues where the vista seemingly terminates with a tower by day, or in the converging lines of lights by night, in each case the mind recognizing that there is still space beyond. Always there must be the feeling of those broad surfaces of water reflecting the clouds of heaven; always the sense of breadth and freedom which are the very spirit of the prairies.

At no period in its history has the city looked far enough ahead. The mistakes of the past should be warnings for the future. There can be no reasonable fear lest any plans that may be adopted shall prove too broad and comprehensive. That idea may be dismissed as unworthy a moment’s consideration. Rather let it be understood that the broadest plans which the city can be brought to adopt to-day must prove inadequate and limited before the end of the next quarter of a century. The mind of man, at least as expressed in works he actually undertakes, finds itself unable to rise to the full comprehension of the needs of a city growing at the rate now assured for Chicago. Therefore, no one should hesitate to commit himself to the largest and most comprehensive undertaking; because before any particular plan can be carried out, a still larger conception will begin to dawn, and even greater necessities will develop.

The two prime considerations for every large city are, first, adequate means of circulation; and second, a sufficient park area to insure good health and good order. In those portions of the city where congestion has brought about hindrances to traffic and consequent waste, new streets must be created at whatever present cost. Chicago has now reached that point in its growth when the congestion within the city demands new and enlarged channels of circulation, in order to accommodate the increasing throngs that choke the narrow and inadequate thoroughfares. There is need, also, for an orderly arrangement of public and semi-public buildings, and for proper approaches to such structures, to express the power and dignity of the city. One thinks of Paris, not as a place of so many millions of people, but as the beautiful capital, in which the artistic sense of the French people has found fullest expression. London impresses one, not so much on account of its size, but because of those monuments which the genius of the Anglo-Saxon race has reared to mark great events and to commemorate great names in the progress of civilization. In Berlin, in Vienna, and in every great city of Europe it is the plan of the city, the character of its monuments, the impressive location of its public buildings, the picturesqueness of its thoroughfares, the development of its parks and gardens, or the treatment of its water front that give the character and charm which create individuality and interest.

[Illustration: LXXXV. CHICAGO. PLAN OF A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF STREET CIRCULATION AND SYSTEM OF PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS, PRESENTING THE CITY AS AN ORGANISM IN WHICH ALL THE FUNCTIONS ARE RELATED ONE TO ANOTHER.

[Illustration: LXXXVI. CHICAGO. PLAN OF THE STREET AND BOULEVARD SYSTEM PRESENT AND PROPOSED.

Proposed additional arteries and street widenings (orange); the present park system (green); the proposed new parks and playgrounds (hatched green). The proposed diagonal arteries are in every instance extensions of those already existing, and around the center of the city they serve to create, in conjunction with rectangular streets, the proposed circuit boulevards.

[Illustration: LXXXVII. CHICAGO. VIEW LOOKING WEST OVER THE CITY, SHOWING THE PROPOSED CIVIC CENTER, THE GRAND AXIS, GRANT PARK, AND THE HARBOR.

Painted for the Commercial Club by Jules Guerin.

[Illustration: LXXXVIII. CHICAGO. MAP SHOWING THE SUCCESSIVE CITY LIMITS, AND A LINE TRACED FROM THE SITE OF FORT DEARBORN THROUGH THE PRESENT CENTER OF POPULATION, REPRESENTING THE GENERAL TENDENCY OF GROWTH.

In all growing cities it has been necessary, as it is now necessary in Chicago, to break through the conditions imposed by the lack of an adequate and comprehensive plan at the beginning, and to create, at large expense, those thoroughfares and boulevards and public squares which the increasing demands of population and the larger requirements of civic life require. The longer the beginning has been postponed the harder has been the task and the greater the expense; but whatever the labor and however large the cost, the result has always been found more than compensation for the outlay. And so it will be with Chicago. Every year of postponement will deprive its citizens of advantages they might have enjoyed had they carried out improvements the necessities of which have been universally acknowledged.

People flock to those cities where conditions of work are good, where means of recreation abound, and where there are attractions for the senses and the intellect. Persons of wealth and refinement seek such cities as their abiding-places; and those who have accumulated wealth in a city bent on improvement remain there. Moreover, there is no stronger appeal made to the American citizen of to-day than comes from the call of one’s native or adopted city to enter upon the service of creating better surroundings not only for one’s self, but for all those who must of necessity earn their bread in the sweat of their brows. Nor is the call of posterity to be denied. To love and render service to one’s city, to have a part in its advancement, to seek to better its conditions and to promote its highest interests,—these are both the duty and the privilege of the patriot of peace.

[Illustration: LXXXIX. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF GENERAL SCHEME OF STREET CIRCULATION AND PARKS IN RELATION TO THE POPULATION.

The various densities of population, ranging from 0 to 25 persons per acre to 250 to 300 per acre are indicated by different densities of red color. The center of population is indicated by a star. Railroads are shown in blue.

The thoroughfares of a city may be divided into three classes: the street, by which is meant the general type of artery; the avenue, on which tides of traffic and travel surge back and forth; and the boulevard, designed primarily as a combination of park and driveway. The first consideration for all thoroughfares is cleanliness, which is the result of a good roadbed kept in thorough repair, and unremitting care on the part of the city cleaning department. In the congested retail district the desirable street width is from 80 to 100 feet, about equally divided between sidewalks and roadway. Here the pavement should be smooth and noiseless; there should be frequent islands of safety for the pedestrian crossing from side to side, and occasional subway crossings; and the lighting, the signs, and every accessory of the street should be arranged with regard to the dictates of good taste. For streets carrying heavy tonnage a width of from 70 to 90 feet is desirable, with a roadway width of a little more than one-half the entire space, and here the pavements should be of the most enduring character, regardless of noise.[22]

[Illustration: XC. CHICAGO. THEORETICAL DIAGRAM OF STREET CIRCULATION, SHOWING EXISTING LINES OF TRAVEL (BLACK), AND PROPOSED SUPPLEMENTARY LINES (ORANGE).

Circulation from north to south and east to west is already established by the rectilinear system of streets. There is need of additional facilities to be provided by street widenings and new arteries. Circulation towards the center is partially established, but the arteries need extending and developing, and circulation across the city from the northwest to the south and east and from the southwest to the north is lacking. It is proposed to remedy this lack by extending existing diagonal streets.

On residence streets the area devoted to pavement may well be lessened to from 20 to 36 feet, according to the amount of traffic, in order that greater area may be obtained for trees and grass plots. This is highly desirable where, as in some sections is inevitable, houses are crowded together or apartment buildings abound, so that the smaller children may have playgrounds close at hand, and restful shade may prevail. A well-kept grass plot in front of the house induces habits of neatness and comfort within; and cool shade brings people from cellars and dark rooms out into the light, thus contributing to good order and a higher morality.

The greatest disfigurement of the residence street is found in the varied assortment of poles which crowd out the trees along the space between curb and sidewalk. There are trolley-poles, electric lighting poles, poles for telephone wires, and poles for police and fire-alarm purposes. The natural development of the city will relegate the greater portion of such service into conduits controlled by the municipality and occupied in common by the city and the various public service corporations. So fast as streets are cleared from these obstructions, the municipality should take over the planting and maintenance of all trees in street spaces; so that the planting may be effective and attractive throughout the entire way. The present method of leaving such work to individuals necessarily results in a ragged appearance of the street, and also fails to provide that diversity in variety of trees which gives beauty and individuality to the thoroughfare.

The avenue or traffic street should be of sufficient width to draw to itself the streams of traffic passing from one point in a city to distant points. Provision should here be made not only for vehicular traffic, but also for street-car lines; and the two currents may well be separated, so as to avoid interference with each other. This end may be obtained as in Paris by a road lined with trees, or there may be subdivision into various roadways, of which one is dominant. These thoroughfares, when conforming to the rectilinear street system, should be developed at intervals sufficiently frequent to accommodate the traffic that naturally would be drained into them from the narrower parallel streets and from the intersecting streets. In order, however, to care for the traffic which flows from northeast to southwest, and from northwest to southeast, and vice versa, diagonal avenues become a necessity, in order to save time and consequent expense.

Few cities have been laid out with sufficient foresight to provide for such diagonals. It has usually happened that at first a small city area has been developed, in which the need of diagonal thoroughfares was not felt; and then as the city expanded subdivision after subdivision has been added, wherein the original street system has been followed, with no care or thought for the increased traffic which growth begets. The one idea of those who make new subdivisions is to secure the utmost space to sell immediately, leaving the future to take care of itself. Hence it happens that, as a rule, when diagonal streets become of prime necessity they must be created at large expense, and with great temporary inconvenience. Yet whatever the expense, such thoroughfares must be opened; and the city itself is the gainer in each instance, not alone by the saving of time, but also in the increased valuations for taxation which such improvements inevitably bring about. Fortunately for Chicago a considerable number of diagonals already exist, and the large part which they play in promoting circulation offers the best argument for their extension and completion. Blue Island and Milwaukee avenues, the happy survivals of old country roads, now carry great streams of traffic, while Ogden and Archer avenues and other lesser diagonals are of large utility as time-savers.

[Illustration: XCI. CHICAGO. EXISTING AND (IN RED) PROPOSED DIAGONAL ARTERIES.

The third class of thoroughfares are the boulevards properly so called; the streets from which all heavier traffic is excluded; the streets lined with commodious and even fine dwellings; the streets where grass and shrubs and trees assert themselves, and where there may well be continuous playgrounds for the children of the neighborhood, such as many Chicago boulevards now provide. If in certain sections buildings for light manufactures abut upon these thoroughfares, the working people will then enjoy a maximum of fresh air and light; and so will work with greatest effectiveness. The boulevard also affords appropriate sites for statues and fountains, and all other forms of adornment pleasing to the eye, making attractive the city. The smaller parks may well be adjacent to the boulevards, or may be expansions of them, thus providing for larger playgrounds, for places of assembly, and for displays of plants and flowers, and rare and beautiful trees, which appeal to the almost universal love of nature. The principle governing the grouping of boulevards and avenues is the establishment of through connection, so that one thoroughfare shall lead into another, and that circulation shall be everywhere promoted but never impeded.

[Illustration: XCII. PARIS. THE AVENUE DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE, LOOKING TOWARDS THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE.]

[Illustration: XCIII. PARIS. THE TUILERIES GARDENS, AND CHAMPS ÉLYSEÉS BEYOND, FORMING THE MAIN AXIS OF THE CITY.]

Along the curved avenues and the diagonals the architectural design should avoid the building up of the thoroughfare structure by structure, each one following the whim of its owner or the struggle for novelty on the part of its architect. Without attempting to secure formality, or to insist on uniformity of design on a large scale, there should be a constant display of teamwork, so to speak, on the part of the architects. The former days when each architect strove to build his cornice higher or more elaborate than the adjoining cornice are giving place, happily, to the saner idea of accepting existing conditions when a reasonable line has been established. There is as much reason why façades should live together in harmony as there is for peace among neighbors. In the case of open spaces, effectiveness of architectural design is to be obtained only by a large unity in the entire composition. The harmonious treatment of the buildings facing the circle opposite the railway station in Rome and on the Place Vendôme in Paris, and the plan adopted for the plaza in front of the Union Station at Washington, all prove that an imposing effect can be produced by a unified and grandly simple design. In Paris when attempt was made to alter some of the houses in the Place Vendôme, the owners were forbidden to do so, because the proposed alterations would have spoiled the architectural symmetry of that circle.

[Illustration: XCIV. PARIS. THE CHAMPS ÉLYSEÉS, FROM THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE, SHOWING THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE IN VISTA.]

[Illustration: XCV. PARIS. VIEW FROM THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE ALONG THE AVENUE DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE.]

Chicago, being a comparatively new city, escapes one difficulty experienced in the re-formation of cities of the Old World; here there are no buildings possessing either historical or picturesque value which must be sacrificed in order to carry out the plans necessary to provide circulation for a growing metropolis. The absence of monumental structures, however, imposes other obligations on the city planner. All the boulevards of Paris were established on the models of the boulevards of Louis XIV., with two lines of trees bordering the driveways, and lines of houses on each side of the street, so that the mass of verdure almost entirely obscures the view of the façades. In the new streets the houses are to have a different system of alignment, so as to form a broken line which will admit of alternate masses of masonry, and masses of green. In this manner the boulevards will gain in artistic effect; while at the same time the line of the façades will be lengthened, thereby making the interior of the dwellings more healthful and agreeable. Much the same effect is produced in many Boston and some Washington apartment buildings, which are constructed on three sides of a court, leaving a mass of green open to the street.

In laying out new thoroughfares or treating old ones it must be remembered that with respect to traffic streets the increase in population is constantly making larger demands for width, and that on residence streets the city should not be burdened unnecessarily with the cost of street construction and maintenance. Moreover, there is great economy in the distinct separation of residence streets from traffic streets. Whenever a street railway seizes upon a residence street of ordinary size, that street immediately begins to undergo transformation into a business street; and this change while working its slow way causes depreciation in land values which, save on favorably located corners, amounts to virtual confiscation. With good planning these ruinous transformations become unnecessary, and the purchase of a home then becomes a stable investment and not a gambling hazard. Again, in every country experience has proved that the clear and even remorseless cutting of main lines through the district to be developed, and the division of great blocks into traffic arteries and service streets is the soundest economy, as well as the most effective means of reaching the sought-for end.

The second form of traffic interruption, arising from the intersection of lines of movement, is complicated by reason of the fact that here the pedestrian movement, as well as the vehicular movement, must be taken into consideration. There are times when men gather in the streets for patriotic purposes, as on the Fourth of July and Decoration Day; or because of an eager desire to learn the news of great events, like election results. The right of the people to assemble for discussion is fundamental. All these requirements must be met by the creation of open spaces, which appropriately may be adorned by the statues of men of achievement, or may be ornamented with fountains and memorials of various kinds. These spaces for assembly and for embellishment should be arranged so as to allow traffic to flow unvexing and unvexed. Nothing could be more of a makeshift than the arbitrary regulations of the police in many of our cities, where long detours are imposed on the wayfarer and vehicle alike, in order to diminish that congestion which it is the task of the city planner to prevent. Yet in no city in the world has this intricate and perplexing problem been completely solved.

It is charged against the French system of “star-places” that they invite congestion by concentrating traffic; and doubtless they are open to this accusation when placed on great traffic thoroughfares, unless pains are taken to insist on a movement similar to that of a whirlpool, so that each entering vehicle shall be required to move around the circumference until its particular street shall be reached. The solution of a gentle junction of two lines in a common line for a certain distance, like that of a railway, has advantages which the city planner will not overlook. Whatever the form taken in a particular instance, the angles in the lots produced by the junction should be studied in order that the open space may not seem to be unfinished, and also that the architect may not be compelled to utilize sharp points unfitted for architectural treatment.

It should be borne in mind that directness is not the only consideration. Traffic wagons when loaded naturally seek the shortest course, but the great majority of vehicles and of pedestrians as well are lured out of the direct line to streets made attractive by the shops, the trees, or other embellishments. Often it happens that unattractive streets, in spite of being shorter, are quite deserted because they are spotted with vacant sites, ugly buildings, and dreary spaces. Beauty allures while ugliness repels in city architecture as in everything else. Moreover, every consideration which affects the planning of a city as a whole is truly architecture, and wherever there is evidence of foresight and the relation of one part to another, there the mind finds the highest satisfaction. Paris is the international capital because in its planning the universal mind recognizes that complete articulation which satisfies the craving for good order and symmetry in every part.

[Illustration: XCVI. SYSTEM OF TRAFFIC CIRCULATION PROPOSED BY M. HÉNARD FOR PUBLIC PLACES.

A continuous gyratory movement reduces conflict of currents to the minimum.]

If Chicago were to be relocated to-day, it would still be placed at the spot where it now is; and if the streets were again to be mapped, the same general system would be adopted, because the present rectilinear street system best comports with the line of the Lake front which nature has unalterably fixed. The rectilinear system certainly accords with the ideas of rightness inherent in the human mind; and also it involves a minimum waste of ground space. Moreover, the River, for the most part, allows the use of the right-angled system without playing havoc with the orderly arrangement of the streets. It is only when and as the city increases in population that diagonals become necessary in order to save considerable amounts of time and to prevent congestion by dividing and segregating the traffic. Thus it happens that no rectilinear city is perfect without the diagonal streets; and conversely, having the rectilinear system, the creation of diagonals produces the greatest convenience.

Now, while it happens that the planning of a new city imposes straightness as a duty, and diagonals as a necessity, it is equally true that a virtue should be made of these hard-and-fast conditions. There is a true glory in mere length, in vistas longer than the eye can reach, in roads of arrow-like purpose that speed unswerving in their flight; and when and where the opportunity of level ground permits, this glory should be sought after. Older cities may indeed bend and curve their new streets to preserve what is picturesque or historic; but new cities, built on level country, should see to it that as subdivisions are platted, the streets and avenues shall be adequate to bear the traffic which will come to them from the city itself, and that such thoroughfares shall form an integral part of the entire system of circulation.

[Illustration: XCVII. THEORETICAL DIAGRAM OF THE STREETS OF PARIS.

REPRODUCED FROM “LES TRANSFORMATIONS DE PARIS,” BY M. E. HÉNARD]

At the same time the elliptical avenue may be used to introduce variety, and especially to serve as a link to connect parks. Chicago had no encircling fortifications to turn into boulevards such as those which beautify and distinguish the cities of Vienna, Brussels, Rouen, Milan, and especially Paris; but such avenues may well be created in order to relieve the monotony of the straight streets. One such great parkway is shown on the plans, and it requires but a glance to recognize the effectiveness of such a thoroughfare.

[Illustration: XCVIII. THEORETICAL DIAGRAM OF THE STREETS OF MOSCOW.

REPRODUCED FROM “LES TRANSFORMATIONS DE PARIS,” BY M. E. HÉNARD ]

Having discussed the general principles applicable to the arrangement and development of streets within a city, we come to the specific problem. The city of Chicago now extends for about twenty-six miles along the Lake front, and has a width of not more than seven miles. It is apparent that as population increases, the entire territory between the present western boundaries and the Des Plaines River will become thickly settled, and that as this occupation proceeds the pressure of the increased numbers to reach the business district and the Lake front will work serious congestion, unless additional thoroughfares shall be created in order to add to transit facilities inadequate even at the present time. Obviously it is idle to expect those who plat subdivisions for the mere purpose of selling land to make provision for a circulatory system sufficiently comprehensive to meet the requirements of a growing city. That task belongs to the city itself, and the only way in which it can be accomplished is by the preparation and adoption of a plan for platting all those lands adjacent to the city which are reasonably certain to be included within the enlarged boundaries. The entire territory extending westward to the Des Plaines should be laid out to meet future requirements, with the requisite area for residences, as well as wide thoroughfares for traffic, well-planned diagonals to gather and distribute the travel, and adequate park spaces. As the architects of Louis XIV. laid out streets and avenues of Paris far in advance of occupation, and as the United States government adopted a plan for the development of the entire District of Columbia in accord with the original L’Enfant plan, so the authorities of Chicago should see to it that when and as new subdivisions are platted in any portion of Cook County not now included within the city boundaries, the thoroughfares in those subdivisions shall be fitted to care for the traffic that will be imposed upon them by reason of their location in relation to the business district.

[Illustration: XCIX. THEORETICAL DIAGRAM OF THE STREETS OF BERLIN.

REPRODUCED FROM “LES TRANSFORMATIONS DE PARIS,” BY M. E. HÉNARD]

The functions of the diagonals and circuits proposed for the area impinging upon the business district are three in number: first, to allow traffic seeking the center to reach its destination expeditiously; secondly, to divert from the center traffic not having its objective point within the central area; and, thirdly, to afford direct passage through the center in those cases where such crossing is necessary.

[Illustration: C. THEORETICAL DIAGRAM OF THE STREETS OF LONDON.

REPRODUCED FROM “LES TRANSFORMATIONS DE PARIS,” BY M. E. HÉNARD]

The matter of widening avenues by means of regulating the frontage is largely one of conservation. That is to say, along streets where residences predominate the thoroughfare should be widened by acquiring all the property to the line of the buildings, so that as the street changes its character from a residence to a business thoroughfare it shall not be narrowed at the very time when greater width is desirable. In short, the city should acquire and own the front yards, just as the Federal government owns the space between houses and sidewalks in Washington. For example, Chicago Avenue gives one the impression of a splendid boulevard, owing to the fact that the buildings are set well back from the street; but eventually the avenue will be narrowed to 100 feet, unless the yard spaces shall be acquired, as acquired they can be at small expense, so long as the purpose is to keep the space open.

[Illustration: CI. CHICAGO. VIEW OF GRAND BOULEVARD.]

The diagonals are the most useful and necessary arteries. Those belonging to the first circuit passing around the business center are as follows:

Chicago Avenue and Lincoln Park Boulevard to Milwaukee Avenue and Canal Street, crossing the river north of the junction of its three branches;

From the intersection of Washington and Canal streets running to Halsted and Congress streets;

From Halsted and Congress streets to Twelfth and Canal streets, and from the latter intersection across the river at Sixteenth Street to Archer Avenue at State Street and Cottage Grove Avenue at Twenty-second Street.

For the most part, these diagonals would run through wholesale and manufacturing districts, passing near some of the railroad freight yards and intercepting the traffic to the city from the other outlying freight yards. This traffic, once having reached the circuit, would make use of it as a means of getting around the congested district.

[Illustration: CII. CHICAGO. VIEW OF THE LAKE SHORE DRIVE.]

[Illustration: CIII. CHICAGO. PLAN OF THE CITY, SHOWING THE GENERAL SYSTEM OF BOULEVARDS AND PARKS EXISTING AND PROPOSED.

The boulevards are planned to form a continuous system of circulation; the parks are related closely to the boulevard system, and are located, wherever possible, in connection with them.

As the city increases in population, its retail and business district necessarily expands also, the rise in values of the real estate forcing the wholesale interests farther away from the center. Traffic on these circuit arteries would thus change in character, and they might eventually be made boulevards to carry traffic of every description except that of heavy teaming. The argument for the circuit as described is equally strong when considered with regard to any form of traffic. It is based on a general experience in other cities, which proves that there is a gradual evolution from mere utility to a service of a lighter and more agreeable character. For example, the Square of the Innocents in Paris, once a cloistered cemetery, is now a playground, and serves as a breathing space for the densely populated neighborhood. Some such evolution will come in the case of the present freight yards lying along the river, which ultimately will be abandoned for freight purposes, just as the fortifications of Paris and Vienna have been transformed from absolute utility to useful purposes of an entirely different nature.

When the freight yards shall be abandoned as industrial sites a large tract of territory will be available for public purposes, and the growing population might easily demand the space for recreation; and the fact that the available space lies along the river will be of double advantage, since river banks furnish an agreeable variety when they extend throughout a city.

[Illustration: CIV. CHICAGO. VIEW OF DREXEL BOULEVARD.]

In addition to the diagonals shown on the diagram are the existing roads running beside the great railway rights-of-way. Some of these already extend far out in the country, and also penetrate inside the city. All of them should be improved, and missing links should be supplied. When, at perhaps no distant day, the railroads entering the city come to be operated by electricity, no better highways can be imagined. They should be broadened, ornamented, and made to serve as great arteries. Outside the city limits, and often inside them, these highways beside the railways penetrate populous districts, where they are of increasing importance. They should be drained, paved, and planted in the best manner, and it is of first importance that there should be no grade crossings of carriageways and railways. This work of improvement which is already in progress inside the city should be carried on until every crossing within the territory shown on the main diagram or encircling highways shall be eliminated.

[Illustration: CV. CHICAGO. VIEW OF MICHIGAN AVENUE, LOOKING NORTH.]

In time the streets within the business center will be taxed to the utmost on the surface, on the overhead tramways, and underneath the present grades. Knowing this, it is important to provide means to divert as much as possible the movement of people around the center when business or pleasure does not necessitate passing into or through it. The topography of Chicago is such that this may be accomplished readily. The shore of the Lake bends rapidly away toward the northwest north of North Avenue, thus placing the center of population of that section so far west that traffic can go directly to the South Side without passing through the business district, if only means to this end be provided; and at the same time the people of the West side can easily reach the North and South Sides, south of the business districts, without passing through the center.

The streets should be arranged and improved so as to provide for such lines of travel. At present, nearly every one going from one section of the city lying outside of the center to another section outside of the center comes into the business district and passes through it on his way. This movement includes pedestrians, passengers on the elevated and surface cars, and wheeled vehicles; it also includes teams and trucks of every description, including those for fire and police services. It is obvious that direct and well-improved thoroughfares should enable this traffic to pass outside the congested center from one section to another.

[Illustration: CVI. CHICAGO. INTERSECTION OF THE THREE BRANCHES OF THE CHICAGO RIVER.

Plan suggested to facilitate traffic circulation by means of two additional bridges placed as proposed for the north-and-south boulevard at Michigan Avenue, on a level above the present street, and connected eventually with streets to be built on either side of the River.

The main portion of the proposed grand circuit would extend from a park at the intersection of Graceland and West avenues, around to Gage Park, thence on Fifty-fifth Boulevard to Michigan Avenue, and thence north to Graceland Avenue at the Lake, a distance of nearly thirty miles. This great circuit can be utilized for continuous playgrounds sweeping around the center and connecting the dense populations that will inhabit the North and South Sides; and thus it will be of inestimable value. To this circuit traffic would come from considerable distances on either side of it, then follow its line until reaching a street leading directly to that portion of the city for which it is destined. By such a route congested business and manufacturing territories may be avoided, and thus it would serve the purpose of many diagonals that otherwise must be created. As a continuous park it would furnish breathing space and playgrounds for a very large number of people, and become a most popular avenue for pleasure as well as for necessary circulation. Moreover, the great circuit seems to be the line most normal to all the great existing radials, and thus it would be the most economical method of furnishing quick and easy communication. Also it expresses in an ideal manner what is aimed at by all inner circuits, which are angular because of the prohibitive cost of making them follow a continuous curve; and also because a curve for the inner circuits would not develop the necessary articulation with existing important rectangular streets. The degree of curvature of this outer circuit parkway insures an extremely noble effect along its entire length and makes many picturesque angles with the intersecting streets. As a whole, it is intended to be a stately highway, such as does not now exist in any city.

The next circuit inside the grand one now largely exists in the form of the great park boulevards of Michigan Avenue, Grand Boulevard, or Drexel Boulevard to Washington Park, Fifty-fifth Street to Gage Park; thence by the West Park boulevards through the West Parks, back by Diversey Boulevard to the Lake, and south to Michigan Avenue. Another circuit is on the same route as the one last mentioned, except that it does not extend so far to the south as Fifty-fifth Street, but goes west to McKinley Park as shown on the diagram.

A circuit of very great ultimate importance would extend on Michigan Avenue from Chicago Avenue to Twenty-second Street; thence on Twenty-second Street to Halsted; on Halsted diagonally to the corner of Ashland and Twelfth streets; thence north on Ashland to Union Park; from Union Park diagonally to the corner of Chicago Avenue and Halsted, thence east on Chicago Avenue to the Lake. This route should be a great thoroughfare, affording every facility for the movement of people on foot, in carriages, or in street cars, and for teams as well. It should be very wide and well planted.

The innermost circuit utilizes Michigan Avenue, Twelfth Street, and Canal Street; thence diagonally to Halsted and Congress streets; thence again diagonally to Washington and Canal streets; thence on Washington Street to the Lake. This circuit should have an underground and an overhead loop for passengers, except that the overhead line should swing over Wabash Avenue instead of over Michigan Avenue.

The following existing east-and-west streets should be widened and much improved: Graceland Avenue, Diversey Boulevard, North Avenue, Indiana Avenue, Chicago Avenue, Washington Street, Congress Street extended and very much widened. Twelfth Street should become a great viaduct, beginning at grade at Michigan Avenue and extending elevated over to Canal; and it should not be less than 180 feet in width as shown on drawings. Sixteenth Street and also Twenty-second Street should be widened. It would be wise, also, to widen each of the section-limit streets running east and west, and also the half-section streets.

South Park Avenue (which is the extension of Grand Boulevard) should be carried over the Illinois Central right-of-way from Twenty-second Street to Grant Park, over which it should pass to that railroad’s north freight yards; thence over the yards and the main branch of the river, and on until it connects with the Lincoln Park Lake Shore Drive on the North Side. This would form a continuous outer boulevard connecting the Lincoln Park and South Park systems with the utmost correctness, and in a fine manner. This way would enable people to pass by the business center when they do not desire to enter it, and would be an additional thoroughfare to and from the center.

[Illustration: CVII. CHICAGO. VIEW LOOKING NORTH ON THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER, SHOWING THE SUGGESTED ARRANGEMENT OF STREETS AND WAYS FOR TEAMING AND RECEPTION OF FREIGHT BY BOAT, AT DIFFERENT LEVELS.

Examples of the arrangement exist at Algiers, Budapest, Geneva, and Paris.

The cost of this improvement would amount to comparatively little for condemnation of private property; the space to be taken would be only that necessary to widen Grand Boulevard to Twenty-second Street, and to carry through the route on the North Side portion. The right-of-way over the railroad from Twenty-second Street to Grant Park, and from Grant Park to the river should be obtained without cost.

The Chicago River, which gave to the city its location and fostered its commerce, has become a dumping spot and a cesspool; bridges of every possible style and condition span it at irregular intervals and at all angles; and year by year riparian owners have been permitted to encroach upon its channel until there are to be found as many as four lines of docks, each newer one having been built further into the stream. Tunnel-backs have restricted its depth for purposes of navigation. The widening proposed by the Sanitary District authorities and the fact that almost all the docks are in a dilapidated condition will combine to make changes imperative. The opportunity should be seized to plan a comprehensive and adequate development of the river banks, so that the commercial facilities shall be extended, while at the same time the æsthetic side of the problem shall be worked out.

Boulevards should extend from the mouth of the river along the North and South branches and on both sides, at least from the mouth of the river to North Avenue on the North Branch and to Halsted Street on the South Branch. These thoroughfares would be an important factor in the relief of traffic congestion down-town; they should be raised above the normal traffic level in order to afford greater facility of circulation, and to allow warehouses to be constructed below the roadway. This upper level would thus connect the points on the river at which the street scheme calls for an elevation, as in the case of the north-and-south connecting boulevards, the junctions of the three branches of the river, and Twelfth Street. These boulevards apart from their practical advantages would become the most delightful route to the Lake.

We have now considered with some detail the disposition of the streets and avenues surrounding the intense business center of Chicago. While this outer city area is occupied mainly by dwellings, certain streets along which transportation lines pass, come to be lined with shops throughout their entire length, so that one passes from the center of affairs into the residence district without noting the transition. As a rule, however, the density and importance of the buildings decrease from the center to the circumference; and in corresponding manner the highways of circulation and exchange may diminish in width. It is essential, however, to provide encircling or belt thoroughfares which act as collectors of traffic, and also as distributors of it; so as to prevent the inextricable congestion which inevitably arises when masses of people gathered along converging lines attempt to penetrate the center at a single point. However difficult it may be to provide against such congestion in the case of older cities, a reasonable system of circulation in connection with the business center of a comparatively new city like Chicago should be accomplished with comparative ease. The widening of some streets and the construction of needed arteries is made less difficult by reason of the fact that the buildings which cover the greater part of Chicago’s area beyond the business center are not of a permanent character, and in the natural order of things they must be replaced by others more substantial. Provision should be made now so as to ensure that, as the transformation progresses, sufficient land area shall be left unoccupied to provide good sanitary conditions, and attractive streets as well.

The three requisites for this outer region, therefore, are: first, convenient means of access to the main business center and to the subordinate centers, which are the day’s working-places; secondly, equally convenient means of access to the water and the fields and forests, where the hours of recreation and refreshment are passed; and, thirdly, as much light and air as possible for the dwellings and the schools, where the home-keepers are occupied with their daily tasks, and where the children are trained, either for weakness or for strength, as physical conditions largely determine.

[Illustration: CVIII. CHICAGO. VIEW OF THE SOUTH SHORE LOOKING SOUTH EAST OVER GRANT PARK.]

FOOTNOTES:

[22] The report to the Street Paving Committee of the Commercial Club on the street paving problem of Chicago, by John W. Alvord, C. E., and an opinion by John S. Miller, Esq., on maintenance and repair of Chicago streets (1904) is at once so comprehensive and so compact a document that it is sufficient simply to call attention to it. After discussing tendencies in this country and Europe, Mr. Alvord reaches this conclusion: “Everywhere the main result is the same. So soon as wealth and population increase to the point where luxury and comfort can demand it, the economical and more durable pavements of stone or granite on heavily traveled streets give way to pavement of shorter life and higher maintenance cost, but of immensely greater comfort to the public in the cessation of noise, smoothness for traffic, and ease with which they may be kept in condition.”

[Illustration: CIX. CHICAGO. THE PROPOSED PLAZA ON MICHIGAN AVENUE.