r NA ^127 UC-NRLF B M Dlfi b31 V,IBRARy OF THE UKrVERSITY OF ^ iiliill! m ill ■ifeiiiii cm & RsaiosAL PLANaiaa ClK Tiiiprovement of Boulder Colorado The Improvement of Boulder Colorado REPORT TO THE CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION BY FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. CHARLES ELIOT PROFESSOR OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY March 1910 City W^ The Boulder, City ' .r Improvement Association Founded February 1903 OFFICERS 1909-10 JUNIUS HENDERSON, President E. G. FINE, Vice-President FRED WHITE, Treasurer WILLIAM J. BAIRD, Secretary Chairmen of Standing Committees Streets, Alleys, Sidewalks A. R. COUZENS Sanitation, Drainage, Sewerage, Water O. M. GILBERT, M. D. Tree Planting, Tree Culture, Street Parking D. M. ANDREWS Education, Floral Culture, Schools, Window Gardening Play Grounds MAUD GARDINER-ODELL Parks, Lawns, Floral Culture (Vacancy) ^ CITY A^'^ ffi^*- CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTORY: Purpose of this Report 1 BEAUTIFICATION AND COMMON SENSE 3 Beauty, like Economy, to be Aimed at in all Municipal Work.. . 4 THE NET PRACTICAL RESULT TO BE AIMED AT 4 What Boulder is Not 4 Boulder's Opportunity 5 A City of Homes 6 Industrial Enterprise •> Suburban Farming '' THE FEATI'RES TO BE CONSIDERED S Public Control of Private Improvements 9 Police Power 9 Influence of Taxation 10 STREETS 12 Reasons for Wide Streets 12 Streets in New Additions 13 Percentage of Area in Streets 13 Misfit Streets 14 Advantages of Rectangular Blocks 15 "V\'liere Rectangular Blocks Make Trouble 15 Rectangular Platting and tlie Real Estate Promoter 15 Who is Responsible for the City's Interest in Street Platting?. . 16 The New York Gridiron 16 CITY PLANNING IS Advance in the Art of City Planning Ifi Enforcement of City Plan by Early Acquisition of Streets 17 Establishment of City Plan by Proclamation 17 The System of Official Bluff and Special Privilege IS Unconstitutional Efforts to Establish City Plans 19 American Backv.-ardness in City Planning 19 What Can Be Done 19 NEED OF A PERMANENT ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER IN CHARGE OF CITY PLAN 20 Objection to Temporary Special Commission 20 Need of Appropriations 21 Official Backing 21 The Financial End 21 £»iS3444S- CONTENTS. Pa SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS AS TO STREET IMPROVEMENTS. Broadway To the Southwest Flagstaff Mountain Road Special Problems To the Northwest Fourth or Fifth Street Policy as to Street Railway Location.s Twelfth Street Twentieth Street Twenty-Fourth Street To the Northeast To the East Twenty-Eighth Street 27 From Seventeentli Street South and Southeast 27 A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE IN CITY PLANNING: DISTINC- TION BETWEEN MAIN THOROUGHFARES AND LOCAL STREETS 2S Effect of Such Planning on Real Estate Values 29 DETAILED IMPROVEMENT OF STREETS 29 Roadway Width 3n Form of Gutters; Storm Water Drainage 31 Kinds of Pavement 31 The Point of View in Choosing Pavements 31 Extravagant Pavements; the Real Measure of Cost 33 Asphalt 33 Modern Wood Blocks 33 Bitulithic 34 Brick 34 Block Pavements 34 Gravel 34 Crushed Stone 35 Objections to Macadam 35 Bituminous Binders 36 The Cause of Success and Failure With Bituminous Binders.... 36 Oil Treatment 37 Summary as to Paveinents 37 SIDEWALKS 37 Sidewalk Edges 38 STREET TREES 39 Silver Maples and Tree Butchery 39 Systematic Pruning 39 Close Planting 40 Kinds of Trees 40 Controlling Purpose of Tree Planting 41 Types of Tree Planting 42 Overarching Avenues 42 Open Avenue 42 Avenues Decorated by Small Trees 43 CONTENTS. Uniform Trees in Strui.^lU Streets 44 Varied Trees on Pietnres(nu' Sti'eets 45 Tjot'ation of Trees 4r) Irrigation of Street Trees 4 Bare Earth Surfaces 4 7 Paved Sidewalks over Tree Roots 47 Summary as to Siiade Trees 4,S STREET FIXTURES 50 Underground Wires 50 Tlie Great Harm in Overliead Wires and Poles 51 Street Ligliting 52 Arc vs. Incandescent Lighting 52 Lamp Posts 52 ARTISTIC DESIGN OF MUNICIPAL CONSTRUCTION 53 The Employment of Special Expert Designers 54 WATERWAYS AND RELATED PARK OPPORTUNITIES 56 Floods 56 Encroachments on Flood Plain 56 How Boston Paid for Neglecting its Little Flood Problem 57 The Results of Neglecting Boulder Creek 57 How to Deal with the Flood Problem 57 Types of Treatment 5S Incidental Value of Broad Flood Channel Margins 59 A Boulder Creek Park 59 FUNDAMENTALS OF PARK DESIGN FOR BOULDER 50 The Outlook from Shade to Sun 60 The Sunny Sheltered Corner 60 A Special Type of Recreation Ground Proper for Boulder 61 The Design of the Boulder Creek Reservation 61 OUTLINE OP PROPOSED PUBLIC HOLDINGS ALONG BOULDER CREEK 62 River Drive 6.3 Play Field 63 Upla.nd Drive and View 64 River Drive and Large Athletic Field 65 The Cost of Delay 65 SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANT 65 Sewage Farms 66 Reasons for a City Sewage Farm 67 BOULDER CREEK ABOVE TWELFTH STREET 68 SUNSHINE CANON CREEK 70 THE REAL ESTATE VALUE OF PERMANENT VIEWS 71 A Special Opportunity 71 RED ROCKS 72 MOUNTAIN AVENUE 72 CONTENTS. Page TREATMENT OF FARMERS' DITCH 73 Pleasant Improvements now Existing along the Farmers' Ditch T i OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED BY THE IRRIGATING DITCHES 74 An Aesthetic Predicament 75 How to Get Park Value from the Ditches 76 Beasley Ditch 79 County Road Boulevard 79 NEEDS OF EASTERN PART OF CITY SO PARKS AND OTHER PUBLIC OPEN SPACES 81 The People and the City Plan SI Back Yards vs. Parks SI Deep Lots and no Parks S2 Shallow Lots plus Parks 82 Lots are Getting Shallower S3 But no Parks are Made from the Savings S3 Who Benefits from Illiberal Sub-Divisions 84 How the Present System Works 84 An Uncontrolled Monopoly S5 Land Speculation a Fair Game for the Players So But the Public Suffers in the End S6 The Public Must Protect itself and the Liberal Landowners by Controlling the Character of Sub-Divisions 86 SELECTION OF LOCAL PARK AREAS 87 Extent of Local Park Areas 88 Specific Parl< Sites 88 Lovers' Hill 89 Valley in Newland's Addition 92 Chautauqua Grounds 93 The City Forest 97 PUBLIC BUILDINGS 103 CONTROL OVER PRIVATE PROPERTY 105 The Billboard Nuisance 105 CONCLUSION 106 The purpose of this report is to offer lielpful siiggestions, drawn from experience and observation in many other cities and from a brief and limited though eager study of Boulder, Ijearing upon one of the broad fundamental questions at the base of all mmiicipal activities, namely: What physical improvements with- in the reach of the city will help to make it increasingly con- venient, agreeable and generally satisfactory as a place in wliich to live and work? "Beautification" and Common Sense AYhcther knowingly or not. cxt'i'vonc is iifrcclcd l»y the ap- pearance of his -surronndings, and one of the iiii[)r any practical purpose whatsoever. AVhen the ])hilosophers discuss the fine arts and the sense of beauty they tell us that at the root of it all is Order: sometimes subtle, complex, intricate and picturesque to .a point that defies analysis, but always so far as analysis can carry ns Beauty is Order, is deiiendent on the avoiding of the inii)ression of dis- order, although that is only the ilrst step and it must be much more besides. When it comes to the practical problem now before us of making the appearance of munici])al surroundings such as to contribute to a healthy, cheerful, ])rogressive state of nund we can. subscribe heartily to the words of one of these ])bih)si)]iliic analysts: "1 object to the word Nk'coration" as commonly used by designers, because it implies that additions are likely to be im])rovenients. * ='' * * As designers * * * we mike additions, in- deed, to achieve the greater simplicity of Order, and for no other reason. Our object in all cases is to achieve Order, if possible a 3 ROULDER CITY IMPROVE^IENT ASSOCIATION supreme instance of Order Avliich will be beautii'ul. We aim at Order and hope for Beauty.'"' * AMtli this preparatory statement to indicate that regard for bettering the appearance of a city is not a matter to be delegated to a special department of municipal BEAUTY, LIKE ECONOMY, . ./ , , . ^^ ,., ,\ TO BE AIMED AT IN ALL activity, but IS a matter, like the MUNICIPAL WORK economy and durability of public works, to be kept constantly in mind in every department, we will take up a consideration of the opportunities and needs for municipal improvements that most impressed us at Boulder. The Net Practical Result to Be Aimed At The first thing to be sought in taking up any practical problem, especially when it is big, vaguei and ramified, is a clear conception of the ends to be attained. Here are some ten thousand people who, for their own bene- fit and that of their children, their successors and others whom any of them may see fit to admit to the community by selling or leasing additional places of abode, choose to obtain by joint action numerous advantages which are either impossible or at least difficult and extravagant of attainment by individual enter- prise. The things they may wdsely undertake so to provide and the manner of providing them will depend upon the needs, desires and means of the individual citizens present and future. There are places which people endure merely because they find there opportunity for economic gain, and are thus enabled to save up monev on which to enjov WHAT BOULDER IS NOT ... . t / , ^. '' ' ^^ lite elsewhere at a later tmie or to attain certain of the comforts and advantages of increased income Bufficient in their minds to offset the loeal disadvantages. In such places conditions making for comfort and happiness of living, however important for mitigating the drawbacks of the locality, must be regarded as entirely secondary to conditions that make * Denman W. Ross: Theory of pure design. 4 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REl'ORT for increased economic productiveness. ]f Ly slaiuliiig a little more discomfort and dirt and ngiiiiess and noit^e and worry witli- ont actually breaking down, a man can sliorlen the period of stay in such a place that may be necessary for making the money he thinks he needs in order to lead a comfortable and happy life elsewhere, why he is probably right to endure them. Boulder is plainly not such a place, and the main lookout of the citizens is not how to make money as quickly as possible so as to go somewhere else to enjoy life, but how to get as much satis- faction out of life as they can in a very agreeable locality with- out the expenditure of more money than they arc able to com- mand while continuing to lead a satisfactory life. Stretching away from Boulder to the Allegheny mountains extends an enormous region of fertile productive land, the seat BOULDER'S OPPOR- "^^ '^ ^^^^^>' growing population of TUNITY hard-working, money-making people. "With all its advantages for production this great region has certain obvious drawbacks as a place for the enjoyment of life, drawbacks of climate, for example, and the drawback of relative monotony of scenery. Out of this region are coming in steadily increasing numbers of people of two classes in search of places where they may find rest and enjoyment of life. First, there are those who have decided, like many of the present citizens of Boulder, either because of the threat of ill-health or because their eyes are opened to a "wiser philosophy of life, to shift their permanent home, with what savings they may have, to a place where con- ditions are more favorable for enjoying life as it passes. Second, there are those, of whom comparatively few have yet sought Boulder, who will continue to maintain their chief place of resi- dence where their productive Avork is done, but with their famil- ies will seek rest and recreation for some weeks or months of every year amid different and more refreshing surroundings. These last are not the class called tourists, who hastily pass through a place which attracts them, leaving a few nickels behind or per- haps paying a liberal tribute for the services and materials they demand, but taking not the slightest interest in the welfare of P.OULDER CITY IMPROVEMEXT ASSOCIATION the communit}'- and often conducting themselves so as to interfere seriously Avith the comfort and welfare of those of the permanent residents not immediatel}^ dependent upon them for financial profit. We refer rather to those that stay long enough each sea- son to become identified in a measure with the community, who intend to return again and become in many instances householders and taxpayers, ready to do their share toward making the place still more convenient, agreeable, and economical as a pkice of residence. The manufacture of the best possible city of agreeable homes attainable with the means at its command and with the physical opportunities and limitations of the A CITY OF HOMES locality is, then, tlie ])rincipal busi- ness which the community has before it. Boulder will have a gradually increasing importance as a local distributing center for the necessities and comforts of life to a tributary area of farm- ing and mining country of limited extent, and first rate facilities for carrying on this business need to be kept in view, parallel with the problem of a perfect city of homes as such. The pres- ence of the State University means that Boulder will always have a large body of students, of teachers and of scholar! v people not directly engaged in teaching, all occupied with intellectual pur- suits and supported, like most of those who Avill seek Boulder for health or pleasure, wholly or largely by funds accumulated else- Avhere or by others. The meeting of the needs of all these people, in the way of food, shelter, merchandise of all sorts, professional and personal service, transportation and entertainment, will occupy and support a great number of others; but all the facilities for business of this sort are of course an essential part of a good city of homes. What other things need to be taken into account? What other occupations need to be reckoned Math and provided for on a serious scale? Xothing, we believe, INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE ^^.^^-^^ ^^.^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^|^^^^ incidental to a city of homes ; nothing which woidd be inconsistent there- with or detract from the excellence thereof. Such manufacturing THE FRKD'ERICK EAW OEMSTED JR. REJ'ORT as may l)e carried on without the sligiitest drawhack in the way of noise, dirt, disorder, or annoyance to tliose not connected witli it woukl be very well, because it would support a certain nundjer of people and enable them to liavc the advantage of lixiiig in Boulder instead of being compelled to live elsewhere; but any manufacturing or other business which is not free from such drawbacks would l)e a positive injury to the main business of the city with no corresponding advantage to the city at large, only a private advantage to a few persons. It would be a taking from all for the sake of a few, and developments in that direction, however speciously they may be presented and boomed by financi- ally interested promoters, ought steadily to be resisted by public opinion. In considering public improvements, therefore, no regard need be paid to the possible requirements of general manufactur- ing or other business inconsistent with the noiiiial requirements of a city of homes. Any manufacturing, however, such as brick making, or any other business no matter how unsightly or unattractive, such as swill collection and disposal, that may be required economically to meet the needs of a city of homes must be provided for, and so far as public action can affect them at all should be provided for in such a way that the business may be carried on as cheaply and as well as possible, keeping the objectionable features reduc- ed always to a minimum. Without discussing others, there is one kind of primary pro- ductive business not in the least inconsistent with a community of pleasant homes, a consideral)le de- SUBURBAN FARMING vclopment of which may perhaps be looked forward to in the outskirts of Boulder. Irrigation farming is only at its beginning as yet in Colorado, and those who practice it have carried over into it tradition's of farming under quite other conditions. The limit of the irrigable area is in sight and with the limitation of the area, under the favorable conditions of soil and climate about Boulder, more intensive cultivation is bound to develop, which means larger cro])s, more labor, and BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION smaller farms. It means rather market gardens than farms in the old sense, and a closer gathering together of the farmers' or gar- deners' houses, making possible, if the opportunity is wisely utilized, many of the advantages of town or suburban life. Most cities of rapid and isolated growth — and Boulder for its size is an example of that class — show no t3^pical suburban development. As in other such cities, there is at most points on the outskirts of Boulder a sharp distinction between the city lot, a closely stan- dardized article as to size, and the undivided farm land of the country. There is, to be sure, a margin around the occupied city where houses are a good deal scattered, but they generally stand on small lots with vacant lots between them that are generally unproductive and uncared for. Only in certain regions, developed for the most part at a period when Boulder was growing very slowly and adjusted itself more perfectly to the conditions for the time being, is there much of that truly and typically suburban character that affords such admirable conditions for the kind of home life which it seems to be the main business of Boulder to provide for — homes with land enough, under irrigation, for really useful and productive gardens that are not only a pleasure but a source of substantial saving or even profit, with land enough for a measure of privacy and real home life outside the walls of the house in the gracious Colorado climate, and yet close-set enough to bring neighbors and school and church and stores and the other advantages of community life within convenient reach. The Features To Be Considered The most conspicuous features in the physical equipment of the city fchat come more or less completely and directly under public control arc (1) the streets, devoted primarily to the passage of persons and vehicles including street cars, with incidental use as places of exercise and recreation; (2) the water ways, includ- ing the natural and artificial channels for the discharge of storm water and the main irrigating ditches; (3) public open spaces de- voted mainly to ^Durposes of recreation or education, but also to THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT various special functions; and (4) public and quasi-public build- ings. The equipments for the suppl}^ of water, gas and various forms of electric service and for the removal and disposal of sewage and other wastes are of course of the utmost importance, though less conspicuous; they form a special province of munici- pal equipment and management with which this report will not deal except insofar as they bear upon the four subjects first enumerated. One other subject, which is of course the finally determining factor in regard to the general excellence of a city, is the char- PUBLIC CONTROL OF PRI- ^'^^^^ °^ development and maintenance VATE IMPROVEMENTS that takes place on the private lands to which all the public improvements are ancillary. The spirit and principles of democracy, of personal freedom and individual responsibility, with which we dare not tamper if we hope to make well-grounded and permanent adv^ance, preclude any ]iublic au- thority from minutely directing this development; yet the pub- lic cannot avoid influencing it in two specific ways, apart from the influence of public sentiment as such. 1. It does so directly and in a negative or prohibitory way through the police power, by exercise of which it is bound to pre- POLICE POWER vent such use of private lands as would unreasonably injure or jeopardize the safety, the health or the comfort of others. The final arbiter for determining what constitutes a reasonable standard of public safety, health and comfort, with which individual property owners are not allowed by the courts to interfere for the sake of their private pleasure or pri- vate gain, is nothing but sustained public opinion. "With every century, with every decade, in progressive countries the standard is raised. Indeed one means of measuring the civilization of any com- munity is to be found in the effectiveness with which the build- ing ordinances, the regulations of the Boards of Health and the BOULDER CITY IMPROVEAIEXT ASSOCIATION other applications of the police power })revent the individual from seriously endangering or discomforting others without need- lessly hampering his freedom of enterprise in harmless or bene- ficial directions. 2. The public also influences the develojDment of private property in a positive though indirect manner through its method of distributing the burden of INFLUENCE OF TAXATION ^, .^. t^ t • tlie public expenditures. License fees, franchise taxes, fees for special services, special assessments for the installation of special public works or for their maintenance and operation, and other special sources of public revenue, all tend ac- cording to their amount and the factors which are made to de- termine how much of them must be paid by any given property o^vaier, to make certain courses of action in the development or neglect of his property more profitable or less profitable, as the case ma}' be. The total amount remaining to be raised by direct taxation of real and personal estate and the wide range of choice exercised in practice by assessors either deliberately or uncon- sciously in shifting its burden more or less heavily upon personal property, upon land in various conditions of use and neglect, and upon buildings and other improvements, still further infiuence in a very marked way the action which the property owmer is likely to take. Some municipalities have used the control over the jDOwer of taxation deliberately and specifically to induce a desired class of improvements on private property by ofl^ering exemption for a term of years from certain controllable taxes upon improve- ments of the class desired. Not infrequently a tax is applied with a distinct view to the discouragement of certain classes of private undertakings as compared Avith others, as in the familiar high license fees for the sale of intoxicating liquors and the less fa- miliar but growing practice of taxing bill-boards. The subject is a very complex one and surrounded with legal and political pit- falls, but it cannot be ignored. Anyone whose voice has an in- fluence in controlling or modifying at any point the incidence of the burden of taxation and who has a regard for the physical characteristics of his town is bound to consider with the utmost 10 THE FRED'ERTCK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT care what sort of thing a possible change in the taxes will tend to make the taxpayer do with his property. Leaving these more complicated issues, we shall take up in detail the four elements in the physical equipment of the city first above mentioned, beginning with streets. Streets In a town laid out as the fully developed central portion of Boulder is laid out, with 80-foot streets, 20-foot alleys and blocks 300 feet square, about 40 per cent of the total area is under pub- lic control in the streets. The ordinary amount of travel passing along the streets could, as a problem in transportation engineer- ing, be carried without change in the character of the vehicles or the proportion of foot-passengers, and without changing the size of the lots, upon gangways so much narrower than the streets as laid out that this proportion could be reduced to 10 per cent. In the busiest part of the City of Havana, where there is more travel of all kinds than Boulder is likely to see during the next century, the proportion is below 10 per cent. What is the balance good for? 1. The extra width is valuable as the only feasible insur- ance against delays, inconveniences and expenses in case the REASONS FOR WIDE fi'avel should at any time in the fu- STREETS ture largely outgrow its present volume. 2. It is valuable in order to provide conveniences acces- sory to mere transportation, such as the right to stop and to load and unload vehicles in the street instead of being compelled to do all such business on private property by means of interior court yards such as are customary in Spanish countries. 3. In order to avoid the necessity for the strict regulation of traffic movement that would be required if the travel were to be carried expedi- tiously upon ways of the minimum width. 4. In order to afford freer access of light and air to all the abutting property than would otherwise be possible. 5. Finally, in order to permit the streets to serve in some measure purposes of public enjoyment by means of their agreeable spaciousness of appearance and by means of trees and other decorations which the greater width makes possible. These are sound, strong reasons and the people who made the original layout of Boulder appear to have made an intelligent 12 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT and reasonable choice in determining tlie proportion of street area to lot area, avoiding an extravagantly and inconveniently large proportion on the one hand and a mean and sliort-siiihtt'dly small proportion on the other. Their plan is open to some criticism in other respects, as will be noted later, — what human plan is free from faults? — but in this regard it was an excellent start. Under the system of "additions" platted by real estate own- ers upon their own initiative and without control, the newer g . Kjc\iu parts of the city have been laid out, ADDITIONS naturally enough, with a less liberal regard for the interests of the general public. These "additions" are not laid out as charitable enterprises and there is no reason to expect those who lay them out to be influenced by other mo- tives than those Avhich appear to govern them. It is their busi- ness to get as many lots out of each subdivision as they can and to devote as small a percentage as they can to street area without spoiling the sale of the lots by making things too conspicuously mean. The demands of purchasers keep the standard from sink- ing indefinitely, but they are not free to express their preference effectively in this matter. It is often for them only a choice be- tween evils, and other factors generally seem much more im- portant to the individual buyer than liberal street width; he wants to be near his friends, or in a fashionable quarter, or on high ground, or near a car line, or he wants easy terms, or some- thing which makes him ready to put up with narrow streets. Seller and purchaser have their own proper personal and tem- porary ends to serve and it is not the business of either of them to look out for the general interests. And as a result, roughly speaking, the more Boulder grows, the narrower its streets get. In the original town of Boulder the area occupied by streets and alleys was equal to 43 per cent of the area of building lots, PER CENTAGE OF AREA ^'''^ including Court House Square IN STREETS with the streets tlu"" total area under pul)]ie control is equal to 44 per cent of the area in building lots. In the Chautauqua Heights Addition the area in streets is equal to 32 per cent of the area in lots. In the jSTewIand Addition HOl'LDl-.R CTTV IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION the area in streets is equal to 3G per eent of tlie area in lots; East Bonkler, 4"^ ])er cent; Mapleton, 35 per eent; Floral Park, 35 ]jer cent: Mawveirs Addition, 3J per cent; Interurban Park, 30 ])er cc]it. In none of these additions are there any areas except the streets left under public control. The tendency is natural and inevitable unless it is made somebody's business to look after the public interest in this mat- ter, and although the tendency has not gone far enough as yet to lead to any very striking results, it is time that some positive measures were taken to check it and at least hold to the stand- ards with which the city started. AVe speak of this matter first because it is a simi)le and posi- tive question of quantity, easy to state and plain to see, but there are questions of quality really MISFIT STREETS ^^ ^^^^^^1^ greater importance. East of Fifteenth Street, for over half a mile, as far, that is to say as any subdivisions have been platted, not a single street goes through from Pearl Street to Arapahoe Avenue without one or more kinks or angles in it and a sharp contraction in width. At the limit of the plattings 24th Streets runs through straight because it was an old country highway, but it is narrow and even it stops at Pearl Street without any connection to the north. Again, Wal- nut vStreet offsets nearly half its width when it Jerks across the line into the East Boulder subdivision; Pine Street does the same thing and shrinks in width very perceptibly when it passes into Tourtellot and Squires Addition; Broadway, which as the south- ern continuation of 12th Street forms part of one of the most important thoroughfares in the city, shrinks from 100 feet in Avidth to 80 feet on passing into the University Place Addition, and a little further on makes an angle and shrinks again to 60 feet wide. Another difficulty arising out of the system of leaving the lay- out of permanent public thoroughfares to private parties who 14 THE I"R1-,D'RRICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT ADVANTAGES OF '''^^'^' ^'^^^^ temporary niul special m- RECTANGULAR BLOCK tcrest in the result is beginning to be seen where the growth of Boulder is encroaching on the steep and irregular slopes of the mesas. A flat ])iece of paper of a given size can be subdivided into a larger number of standard sized fragments with less trouble l)y a rectangular system of cutting up than in any other way, and other things being equal a rectangular house lot is apt to be more convenient and usable, foot for foot, than one of any other shape. These are the principle reasons for rectangular subdivisions, and very good reasons they are. Even WHERE RECTANGULAR when the flat paper is the convention- BLOCKS MAKE TROUBLE ^1 representation of a piece of ground that is far from flat, the advantages remain equally strong for the dealer in lots, who alone is responsil)le for the method of subdividing as things now stand; but in such a case certain dif- ficulties are introduced for which others have to foot the bill in years to come. Steep grades needlessly . burden the community with the triple tax of inconvenient and costly transportation, of endless successive expenditures for making improvements in the grade when the inconvenience becomes intoleral)le, improvements that involve not only the cost of grading and of tearing up a street in actual use, but also more or less serious grade damages to improved property along the line, and finally the tax of a seri- ously increased cost of maintenance. On the other hand, the the- oretical advantages of precisely rectangular lots, although they may attract the inexperienced ])urchaser. are a])t to l)e counter- balanced by sharp differences in grade between one corner and another that have to be overcome by costly construction, so that the only man who gets much advantage out of the rigidly rect- angular system thus applied is the real estate promoter, to whose uncontrolled discretion the choice of a plan is left. Why should he not stick to the rectangular system regard- less of future results? As before mentioned, he is not subdividing RECTANGULAR PLATTING the land as a charitable enterprise or ^^^'^PR^OMOTER^"^^'^^ "^^^^^>' f"^ *^^ "^'i^' impi-"vement of Boulder. In some cases the owner is doubtless a non-resident or 15 BOULDER CITY lAIPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION a temporary resident whose ^nirpose is to sell out at as good a price as he can with the least possible extra investment for sur- veys, plans and improvements, and then get out. Why should he be expected to give elaborate consideration in laying out the Ptreets, as a well-managed railroad company does in laying out its right-of-way, to questions of grade, of cost of operation and maintenance, and of promoting the permanent prosperity of the section? And yet under the present system, if the real estate pro- moter does not happen by some stretch of altruism or by mere WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR luck to provide for these permanent THE CITY'S INTEREST IN ir • + + •+ • + • 4.1 j. STREET PLATTING? public interests it IS certain that no- body else will, because under the present system in Boulder no- body else has anything to say about it. It is just a hundred and one years since a committeeman of Xew York City, standing beside a building in course of construc- THE NEW YORK ^^^^^ ^"^^ looking out over the farm GRIDIRON lands, swamps and woods that stretch- ed in 'New York City from Bleecker Street to the Harlem Eiver, picked up a mason's sieve that was lying near at hand and laid it down \\]um the map of Manhattan Island, saying "there, gentle- men. Avhat l)etter plan could you have than that?" and because nobody proposed, anything better, the mason's sieve plan was adopted, with a single diagonal line angling up across it con- sistiug of the old country highway that men call today Broadway; it was an ill-considered, bad plan; and thereafter no one was al- lowed to open any street except upon the lines of the sieve. N'ot a little experimenting has been done m the years since then, both on the question of how to lay out streets for the best ADVANCE IN THE ART OF pc'rmanent interests of a city and on CITY PLANNING tl>e question of how legally to enforce the public will without unfairness to landowners and without an undue burden of expense upon the community. Today it is pos- sible to speak more definitely upon the former question than on the latter, for at least the principles governing the physical de- THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT sign of cities are well fixed, liko those governing the design of any piece of efficient machinery or any work of fine art, but the legal question lias been complicated by arbitrary ililferences in state constitutions, by local and temporary peculiarities of statute law, and by the gradually altering precedents of the courts. Broadly speaking, two principal legal methods have been used to secure conformity in street layout to plans adopted in ENFORCEMENT OF CITY advance by city authorities. The first '^'"quirement\)F^' ^^ ^°^ *^^° P^^^^^^^ authorities to lay STREETS out and acquire the rights in at least the main tlioroughfares and often in the whole street sj'stem of a given section, some 3^ears in advance of the physical need for the streets, leaving the construction to be done from time to time as required. This method involves the assessment and payment of damages at the time of the original taking. This system accomplishes the purpose; but it is sometimes rather hard on the public treasury, especially if political favorit- ism comes into play. Certain individuals are bound to be paid cash down for the right to run streets through their farm lands many years in advance of the need for constructing the streets, and until the construction takes place they can go on using the land for farm or other purposes almost as though no action had been taken. We have seen streets laid out in this -ray in Brooklyn, iSTew York, which not only were cultivated during many years by the abutters as market gardens but which served an additional corrupt purpose through a contract for street lighting. Being public streets, even though not open to travel, gas mains were laid in them, and at the standard price per light the municipal lighing contractor sent his men night and morning through the rows of cabbages to light and extinguish the gas lamps. The other principal method of procedure after planning a proposed system of streets is to publish it and announce that no ESTABLISHMENT OF CITY ^^^^eets Avill thereafter be accepted by PLAN BY PROCLAMATION the city which do not conform to the plan. In theory this is sound, but in practice the results are wide- BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION ly various. Usually the city officials have not the necessaiy back- bone to stand up for their plan, and a persistent and cheeky promoter, even without corruption, can not infrequently induce the city to accept a platting which differs more or less radically from the established plan. Sometimes the promoter simply goes ahead regardless of the city plan, rough-grades his own inade- quate streets as private ways and sells off the lots to more or less unsuspecting citizens and leaves THEM to fight it out with the city. Thev will have built houses, possilily in ignorant good faith, on the promoter's so-called streets, and when they come ^\dth a de- mand for curbing, sewering, lighting, etc., it is too much of a straiiT on the easy-going, good nature of American city officials to tell them that it was their own fault for building on streets im- properly laid out and that they must therefore improve the streets themselves as private ways i and maintain them as such for- ever at their own risk and expense. If city officials had the back- bone to enforce such harsh and impersonal justice, and stick to their announced plan in spite of baby-talk, a few such unpleasant episodes would soon establish respect for tlie adopted ])lan and THE SYSTEM OF OFFICIAL it would be followed without more BLUFF AND SPECIAL -, -r^ , ., , , n , ■ -, PRIVILEGE ado. Bin it appears to be a Iciet with which it is necessary to reckon that in the mind of the average American official any general rule of policy and almost any ordi- nance or statute law is more or less of a bluff. If anybody of good standing in the community calls the bluff, he is apt to think more of keeping peace in the family and avoiding harsh feelings than of hewing to the line in the execution of his presumptive dnty. If he disregards statute law in this loose, good-natured way, some reforming busy-body may get after him in the courts; but where it is merely a matter of general policy concerning which his office must possess discretionary power in order to make the system workable, his temperament plays havoc with the general rule, resulting in special favors for the more aggressive and self- seeking disregarders of the public interest. A great many laws have been put upon the statute books of 18 THE FRKD'ERICK LAW OEM S'll-:i) JR. REI'ORT various states authorizing cities tlirougii special machinery creat- UNCONSTITUTIONAL ocT for the purpose to establisli street Ef'''ORTS_^TO JSTABLISH j,|^,^,^ ^,, ^^.,,i,.,, ^|,^, ,,i„,1_,„,,hts n,ust conform under various penalties; as for example the Board of Survey Law in Massachusetts, which provided that if any huihl- ing or other improvement was constructed within the limits of any of the proposed streets after they had been deiined by the Board of Survey the owner should not be able to collect damages on account of such building or improvement at the time wlien the street is actually taken over by the city. But the courts have repeatedly held such laws to be unconstitutional unless provision IS made by wliirli the land-owner may receive payment for tlic encumbrance thus placed upon his freedom to do what he wills with his land. Such laws, therefore, when they accomplish any- thing, merely serve for a time to strengthen the bluff which the city puts up when it says the established street plan must be fol- lowed under severe penalties: which deter the average citizen but v.hich the professional knows cannot be or will not be enforced if he boldly persists in disregarding the plan. It is easv to see that the diffi- AMERICAN BACKWARDNESS ^.^,,^^. j^ intimatelv linked with one IN CITY PLANNING ■, , ^ ,• "x j^ ^ ^ ot tlu' \veakest leatures of our whole American ]~)olitical and administrative system, and it is therefore no wonder that the situation is rather discouraging and that the street lavout of American cities has been floundering for a cen- tury without appreciable improvenuMit while a whole science of street ])lanning has been developing and is showing its results in Euro])ean cities that have been growing at the same rate as our own. It is a discouraging situation but success in it is immensely importa]"it to the fu- ture welfare of every city, and the practical question faces ns "TAKIXG THE FACTS AS ^\E FIXD THEM WHAT CAX EEALLY BE DOXE ABOVT IT?" In the first place the eity, as WHAT CAN BE DONE represented in the political' of- ficials responsible for its policies, the Mayor and Council, must 19 BOULDER CITY niPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION be convinced that it is desirable and practicable to look ahead in tlie matter of street extensions and to safeguard the interests of the city therein, and that such insurance is worth paying some- thing for. The policy having been accepted as a sound one, the necessary authority and funds must be voted to enable a perma- nent administrative officer of the necessary technical ability to develop a street system plan, with or without special expert as- sistance as may appear advisable. "We sav "permanent admin istra- NEED OF A PERMANENT live official" with rcasou. Even ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER , . .,. . , IN CHARGE OF CITY PLAN American cities are coming to rec- ognize that tolerable efficiency in the board of directors, composed of changing political officers re- sponsible for the city's ])o]icy, is supplemented l)y an adminitra- tive and executive staff of experts more or less permanent in their tenure. It has come to bo generally recognized, for example, that an officer Avho performs duties of such a highly technical nature and depending to such a high degree upon continuous personal knowledge of technical details as those of a city engineer, or his principal assistants, can only be properly performed if they are in the hands of an expert, non-political, administrative of- ficer, holding office practically during good behavior; as distin- guished from the political or representative officers, whose duty it is to control the general policy and the rate of expenditure of the administration in accordance with the popular will and who must therefore change with more or less frequency in order fairly to reflect that will. It is not, in our opinion, desirable that the making of a gen- eral plan for street extensions or improvements should be en- OBJECTION TO TEMPO- trusted to a special, temporary com- MISSION " mission or officer, because in the na- ture of things it is not possible that such a plan should be brought to a definite finish, like plans for a building. It is a mat- ter of continuous growth and of a certain amount of continuous revision and the duty of creating the plan and keeping it not merely "up to date" but at least a few years ahead of up to date 20 THE FREDERICK LAW OLALSTED JR. REPORT should therefore be intrusted to a ''permanent administratire of- ficer."' In a city of tlie size of Boulder such a duty naturally falls to the city engineer, in a larger city to a special department, but in either case the assignment of the duty must be accompanied by vote of funds for the necessary assistance in doing the work. NEED OF ^^ ^'^ ^ matter that requires initiative APPROPRIATIONS and time for careful investigation, and simply to assign the duty to a busy city engineer's depart- ment whose resources are habitually taxed to keep up with the pressure of routine duties amounts to nothing Avithout a special fund available for pushing this particular matter. Having got so far, the Council ought to pass an ordinance to the effect that no street will thereafter be accepted by the city except upon certificate of its approval OFFICIAL BACKING i ., rv- • i . .i , . b}'' the otricer m charge ot the street plan. Of course this cannot prevent a subsequent Coimcil from eating its words and accepting any kind of a street regardless of the plan; but it at least strengthens the bluff, and will enable future weak-kneed but well-intentioned Councilmen to escape pressure from personal or political friends who may want the plan disregarded, b}^ hiding behind the permanent official. The latter is better able to stand the pressure than a political offi- cial, if he has even a half-hearted and tacit backing in the Coun- cil, and he is helped by the ]u-ide of authorship to pla}^ the part of the hard-heartod partner with a better grace. Finally the city has got to come to the point of actually ac- quiring locations for a few wide, main tlioroughfares forming essential features of the gradually ex- THE FINANCIAL END pnnding plan far enough in advance to make sure that they Avill not be blocked or seriously narrowed or deflected by private improvements or rising land values; and for these few. good, main thoroughfares the cost, which is after all only the margin by which the damages exceed the betterments, must simply be paid with as good a grace as possible, like an in- surance premium or the price of grain sowed in the fall for next year's harvest. Even at that the money may be raised on a long 21 r.OULDER CTTV niPROVliMEXT ASSOCIATION term boiul issue with more reason than tlie average expenditure i'oi- niunicijjal improvements, most of which give tlieir highest values when they are new and are wearing out when the bonds fall due, whereas proper street locations of course increase in use- fulness with every year's growth of the city. The above appears to be a practical programme which is within the discretion of the city without having to go to the legislature for any special authority. We presume there is nothing to prevent the city from making surveys and plans relating to land outside its boundaries which may at some future time come in. since it is permitted to own and operate water works and a park outside of the city boundaries. It might be convenient, how- ever, to secure some additional authority from the legislature: that is a matter for the lawyers. If any legislation is to be secured it would be well for the lawyers to consider the following device for diminishing the dam- ages due to taking street locations for future development. We are not aware that the device has ever been employed, but it does not a])])ear to be open to the fundamental constitutional objections that lie against most of the special laws upon this subject. When a street location is not utilized for street purposes for a number of years after its acquisition by the city the usufruct of the land remains in the hands of the owner, hut his tenure of the usufruct being uncertain and terminable by the city at will this fact can- not reduce the amount of damages at the time of taking very materially. Also this element of uncertainty of tenure, being de- pendent upon the discretion of city officials, tends to introduce opportunities for favoritism or at best for charges of favoritism. Our suggestion is that the practice should he to take hy con- demnation the right of entering upon the street location at a definite future time, say ten years or twenty-five years in ad- vance, leaving in the hands of the owner a perfectly definite tenure of the land, the capitalized value of which can he taken into account in assessing the damages of the taking. If it should become necessary to enter upon the street for construction hefore the end of the fixed period it will normally be because the owner 22 THE FRKD'F.RICK LAW" OLMSTED JR. REPORT is anxious to liave the improvement made and is ready to waive his right to the continued nse of the land for other purposes in order to have the street opened promptly, l)ut if he is not willing so to waive his rights they can he extinguished at any time hy condemnation upon payment of the fair value of the unexpired term. So much for the legal and administrative aspect of street ])lanning. As for the actual laying out of a plan we can do no m(n'e than cite a few instances of the SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS ,,.,.,, -, n -i AS TO STREET IM- ^OTX ot thing that needs to be done PROVEMENTS and discuss a few general principles. To do more on the basis of our brief study of the situation would be as if a tailor were to look once or twice at a man passing in the street and then go home and cut a suit of clothes to fit him. We have spoken of the successive narrowings of Broadway. It is plain that there ought to be an ample and convenient main thoroughfare taking up with the BROADWAY 100-foot portion of Broadway and extending inckfinitely into the territory that lies between the Colorado Southern Eailway and the base of the high mesas, prob- ably between the railway and the corner (^f the new cemetery. To get a good line, to say nothing of a ])roper width, would involve some disturbance of the streets and lots of the subdivision called "Tnterurban Park" and the sooner a decision is reached the better it will be for all parties. It will become highly important at some time in the future, as Boulder attracts people who are able and willing to pay for more or less detached residences per- TO THE SOUTHWEST manentlv commanding fine views, such as are to be found by the thousand in first-class sulnirbs and summer resorts in the east, to develop the magnificent possibili- ties of the great mesas to the south of Chautauqua Park; and to this end a first-class thoroughfare on good grades ought to be planned leading up and into that section. It is a difficult problem from every point of view and it is highl}^ important that it should 23 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION be ^vorked out before the land to the east ,and northeast of Chautanqua becomes so fully occupied as to leave no flexibility in choosing the point of departure and improving the layout and grades of the approach. If the best line of approach proves to be Twelfth street, as seems not unlikel}^, it would seem important to consider whether some improvement ought not to be made in the present means of connection between the comer of Broadway and University Avenue and the beheaded southern portion of Twelfth Street. Some more direct and better graded line of approach should certainly be provided to connect the central, the western and the FLAGSTAFF MOUNTAIN "orthem parts of the city with the ROAD Flagstaff Mountain road where it crosses Gregory Canon Creek. Lines of travel along Boulder Creek will be discussed in con- nection with storm water channels and park opportunities below; as will also the problem of hand- SPECIAL PROBLEMS 5,,^^ ^|,^. ^.,,„„^ ^^.^^^,,^ ^^ Sunshine Canon and securing a proper connection for a thoroughfare in that canon with the center of the city. A perplexing problem involving an opportunity for securing excellent results and a more than equal chance of making an extravagant and wasteful botch is to -be found in the development of the lower end of Sunshine Canon and the slopes below Bed Eock. The best results for all parties can only be secured here by a frank, intelligent, and far-sighted co-operation of the city in the layout of streets and parks with the land-owners in the layout of building lots. Perhaps a thoroughfare having somewhat the character of a parkway or pleasure drive, but serving also to give access to scat- tered house sites of great picturesque TO THE NORTHWEST ^^j^^^ ^^^^^ relatively high cost of de- velopment, Avill be justified after the lapse of some years, branch- ing ofi^ from the Sunshine Canon Eoad and Mapleton Avenue at a point west of the Sanitarium, rising through the valley west of the Hogback and passing out on to the east face of the Hog- 24 THE FRI'DERICK T.AW OE^ISTED JR. REPORT back a little above the level of the Silver Lake Ditcli, at a point a few hundred feet north of the place where the ditcli crosses on to the east face. Thence it would work northward on a nearly level line commanding wonderful views to the eastward. The ])ark aspect of this possible thoroughfare will be discussed more fully below. A good main north and south thoroughfare wide enough for car tracks is needed about where Fourth Street or Fifth Street is FOURTH OR FIFTH ^^^^'^ "*^^'^^^ "^' ^^^^-^^^'^^^ ^^^'^"^''^^- STREET Fifth Street would give consider- ably better grades than Fourth Street and is probably preferable, but whichever street is adopted the city ought to insist upon its being widened and graded to a much improved profile as a pre- liminary to its adoption as a main thoroughfare and the laying of tracks in it. Both Fourth Street and Fifth Street "break joints" to some extent in passing from the "Mountain Heights" subdivision to the "IsTeAvland Addition" and there should be a suf- ficient enlargement or square at the junction to overcome its awkwardness unless the general widening of the street can be made to accomplish the same purpose. In the !N"ewland Addition any widening of a north and south street would curtail the depth of lots, but the widening should be done Avithout cost to the city at large because 100-foot lots on a wide street with car tracks are worth more than deeper lots on a narrow street without car tracks. And the city will be entirely within its rights and entirely POLICY AS TO STREET j^istificd in taking the position that it RAILWAY LOCATIONS Avill never authorize the location of car tracks except in wide thoroughfares properly adapted for such use. To widen Fourth Street or Fifth Street through "Maxwell's" and "Mountain Heights" subdivision will involve wiping out a certain number of lots, but again the cost of doing so will be fully justified and may reasonably be assessed in whole or in part upon the adjacent property benefited by the widening and by the car line contingent thereon. Twelfth Street beyond the angle near Portland Place ought 25 BOULDER CITY IMPROVKMEXT ASSOCIATION to 1)0 laid out wide enough to serve in the future all the i)urposes of a great main thoroughfare for TWELFTH STREET traffic and car lines Avith ample side- walks, shade trees, etc., for an indefinite distance to the north. East of Twelfth Street for a distance of a mile a high steep- sided ridge, called Lovers' Hill, blocks all north and south travel except at a single pass opposite Twen- TWENTIETH STREET ^j^^i^ Street, and the only important future thoroughfares in this section are therefore the two country roads which extend north through this gap and past the east end of the ridge. These should hoth he laid out of ample width. In this connection it is to he noted that T\ventieth Street, which will he of considerable importance through its connection to the north, now comes to a dead end at Walnut Street and it is seriously to be considered whether it ought not to be extended south to Goss Street between which street and Arapahoe Avenue it has already been o]icned, although at a reduced width. Also, as T)efore men- TWENTY FOURTH tioned, Twenty-fourtli Street, which STREET has a fairly important connection to the south and which is on the same line asi the road which leads to the north past the east end of Lovers' Hill, is at present laid out as a narrow street and comes to a dead end at Pearl Street. It certainly ought to be extended north to complete the connection at a respectable width. Its extension would include about a quar- ter of a mile of the Beasley Canal and could he made to have a rather striking and valuable character as a parkwav or boulevard in a manner discussed below under the proper head. From this proposed widening and extension of Twenty- fourth Street at its intersection with Hill Street a wide, main thoroughfare ought to be laid out on TO THE NORTHEAST .^ ^.^^;^^^ ^-^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^.^^^ ^^^^^ p^^f_ erably following the line of the Beasley Canal in Avhole or in part for a considerable distance. Either Pine Street or Spruce Street ought to be extended 26 TIIF. KRl':n'FRICK LAW OLMSTRD JR. REPORT as a wide, main thoroughfaro ])arall('l to the D. & B. V. \l. Ii., and a new east and west tliorouglil'are TO THE EAST tappini-' the iraftK- of hotli Tearl and AValnut Streets sh(ndd lie laid out to the eastward of "^^th Street on a line not immediately next the railroad. This proposed new thoroughfare wtnild ])rol)al)ly fork ahout half a mile east of •24th Street, one hraneh entering the distriet l)etween the T). S: "B. V. E. E. and the arm of the (*. lV' S. Eailway wliile the other hraneh would keep entirely to the south of the latter. Twenty-eig'hth Street is a eross-town thoronghfare of some future importance and should prohaldy he widened and extended, TWENTY-EIGHTH '^^^'^ certainly an ample cross-town STREET line shonld he laid oat just w^est of the "Wye. which offers a permanent ol)stacle to street travel of con- siderahle extent. South of Bonlder Creek again and hetween it and the ^Nfar- shall Branch of the C. & S. some improved lines of commnnica- FROM SEVENTEENTH cation will he much needed. From the ^'^^Ioutheast'^^^ Seventeenth Street hridge in addition to a connection nnder the railroad to University Avennc and throngh the University gronnds to the sonth. a road onght to he laid ont on a good grade rising up the face of the hluff north of the Hospital (in place of the present precipitous road that runs hetween the Hos])ital and the Eailroad). The proposed road would rise gradually to the edge of the level ground south of the Hos- pital and extend along near the edge of the declivity so as to tap the various roads leading southward while commanding a fine view of the city with Boulder Creek in the foreground. The park value of such a road would he very large and it will be discussed in more detail under that head, hut it is certainly desirahle as a mere means of communication. T^ltimately, descending again to the low^er level at or near Twenty-eighth Street, it would presum- ably extend off to the southeast through Section 32. It is not to he supposed either that the above is an exhaus- 27 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION tive statement of the thoroughfares that it would he wel] to pro- FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE ^i^'^' i'"^' «^ ^liat all of the lines men- IN CITY STREET PLANNING: tioncd are equally important to lay MA^'thorcSghfZrTs'and <-^ - ^^•'^■^"^^■e of the actual o.,owth LOCAL STREETS. of the city; hut it may serve as the hasis for a programme of work and it may help to make clear a fundamental principle too little recognized in most of the city planning that has been done in this country. That principle is to make sure of a limited number of main thoroughfares, first; to get these laid out of the most ample width, so as to be sure that the contingencies of the future Avill not overcrowd them, and on reasonably direct and continuous lines and Avith no bad gradi- ents; to do this regardless of local and individual objections and opjiosition and even -at considerable expense in order that the general transportation interests of all other localities and individ- uals may bo proi)orly provided for: and then in laying out the secondary or intermediate streets to considt local wishes and in- dividual preferences and minor economies of land and construc- tion to a marked degree. Systematic adherence to this principle not only results in a street system that serves the practical re- quirements of transportation adequately, but it is as a whole, more economical of land and construction than one in which the dis- tinction between main and secondary streets is not so clearly made, and finally it tends to make a far more interesting and agreeable city than one in which all the streets approximate an even uni- formity of width and character regardless of the purposes for Avhich they are used. For residential purposes there is a coziness and quiet attractiveness about a street of moderate length and moderate width through which no heavy traffic has inducement to flow, that is in marked and pleasant contrast with the inter- minable vistas of streets that go on indefinitely in an unbroken straight line, especially if their grades be such as to attract con- siderable amount of general teaming; while on the other hand for the sort of occupation that naturally seeks the main lines of travel, such as stores, etc., the advantage of thus concentrating 28 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT the through travel on certain streets is ver^y considerable. Wliat- EFFECT OF SUCH PLAN- ever tends to staMlitv in the distinct NING ON REAL ESTATE .^^.„„., + - ,• T,r " ^ i -f VALUES se^-egation ol dilrerent chisses oi oc- cnjDane}' of conilicting or incongruons character tends to stability of real estate valnes and to a higher average range of valnes. The more certain a man can feel that the character of a given street is prett}^ well fixed the more he is willing to pay for the privilege of having a lot on the kind of street that he Avants. The sharp differentiation in width and character of treatment between the main tlioronghfare and the ordinary streets is a step in tliis di- rection as well as a practical economy in dealing with the transpor- tation problem. To discnss at this point the next step, which con- cerns district building laws and other localized restrictions in- tended to safeguard the class of occupation in given districts would take us too far afield. The detailed improvement of existing and future streets in ]ioint of practical utility, economy of maintenance and a}ipearauce DETAILED IMPROVEMENT ^'' ^^^^ .^^^^^ ^a*^^^' *^ ^'^ considered; OF STREETS the main elements being roadway ]iavement. surface-water drainage, sidewalks, street trees, street fixtures and incidental features, but the most important thing of all is the general effect of all these features considered as a whole. It is jnst as well to point out at the beginning that there is no single best type of treatment even for streets of a given width and. of the same general character of occupancy. Nothing is more des- perately uninteresting and unattractive than the monotonous repetition of the same type of street. It is conceivable that a committee of ladies might come to a concensus of opinion as to which was the best looking dress in town but what a depressing thing it Avould be if they all took to Avearing it! Yet we may ven- ture some general recommendations as to Boulder streets without much risk that they will be so literally folloM-ed as to lend to monotony of appearance. A good roadway well maintained is a rather costly article and the Avidcr the roadwav in anv street the longer it will take BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION to bring it up to a good standard and ROADWAY WIDTH ^j^^ hjirdcr ]t Will be to keep it there. Moreover every nnnecessary square yard of roadway is an un^ necessary source of dnst and glare. If a street be laid out wide enough between property lines to provide for future contingencies it is a simple matter to widen its roadway Avhenever it proves desirable to do so, and the saving in cost of maintenance and in interest charges due to building a roadway narrow at first and widening it some years later is usually more than enough to pay for the extra cost of doing the work in two or more operations. Except on the streets carrying a large volume of traffic we be- lieve that most of the Boulder streets have a Avider traveled way than is economically desirable and that they would be distinctly improved in appearance if the traveled way were narrowed. Ex- cept on main thoroughfares a roadway about 24 feet wide will serve all practical purposes and generally look better than a greater width. This is sufficient for ordinary vehicles to turn in without serious inconvenience and permit vehicles to come to a stop on both sides of the road without blocking passage. On minor and suburban streets a width as narrow as 16 feet has been recommended hx a distinguished authority for the city of Chicago and there are cases in Boulder where we should endorse this recommendation, but in such cases it should ordinarily be pos- sible for vehicles to turn off over the edge of the road on emer- gency; in other words the curb, if any is used, should be set back some distance from the edge of the road, the intervening space being occupied by grass, or by rmpaved earth, or possibly by some inferior form of pavement of low annual cost when subjected only to light and occasional use. A central pavement about 16 feet Avide of first-class smooth pavement flanked by borders eight feet wide paved with cobblestones and graded so as to act as gutters, while at the same time providing standing space for vehicles at the side of the road and turning space Avhen required, makes a form of street pavement relatively inexpensive to construct and maintain and having some distinct advantages where grades are steep and Avhere a macadam pavement is subject to washing and any smooth pavement is liable to be slippery on occasion. But 30 THE FRKD'ERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT ordinarily a good smooth pavement al)Out 2-1 feet wide clear of the gutters is a reasonable design for ordinary residential streets. FORM OF GUTTERS: >^^eept ill those streets where an irri- STORM WATER DRAINAGE gating channel serves at the same time as a gutter for carrying otf the surface water, the gutters, as a matter of convenience and appearance, ought not to be like ditches sharply separating the sidewalks from the roadway. But to avoid deep big ditches requires that the storm water should be removed from the gutters at frequent intervals into a system of storm-water sewers connecting ultimately with the open na- tural channels of storm-water discharge. In the long run this is a large and costly undertaking and one that needs to be planned in a comprehensive and systematic way if a good deal of money is not to be wasted on it; but it is an item th:it every well-organiz- ed city has to face sooner or later. As to the kind of pavement, there is no single kind of pave- ment to which a city can turn as the best solution of the problem, neither asphalt, nor brick, nor creo- KINDS OF PAVEMENT ^^^^^^ ^^^^j^^^ ^^^^ bitulithic nor maca- dam nor stone. In any given city each street, or each class of streets, according to their grades, the volume and character of the traffic, and the character of the abutting property presents a separate problem: and the first step in reaching a satisfactory re- sult is for the city engineer or other proper administrative de- ]iartment to classify the streets carefully and scientifically accord- ing to the above factors, and then to deal with each class by it- self. Most progressive American cities have dealt with the street improvement problem much after the fashion in which a well -TLJiT o/^iM-r ^c- x/itrxA, iM regulated household of moderate but THE POINT OF VIEW IN '^ CHOOSING PAVEMENTS increasing resources deals with the question of household furniture. An intelligent family having an equipment with which it can get along after a fashion, invests from time to time in pieces of good, durable, beautiful furniture of immediate use and permanent value, being spurred to each purchase by growing requirements and a high standard of living 31 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION and b}' the sense of financial ability, knowing that if it can af- ford the immediate expense the gain in comfort and pleasure will be real and permanent with a very slight added burden of care. It is a form of saving, really, almost like putting money in the bank if the purchases are intelligently made, for really first-class furniture in the hands of a good housekeeper does not seriously deteriorate. And cities, looking upon good pavement as a kind of municipal furniture, have been apt, when they have faced the problem at all seriously and progressively, to proceed in the same way; under the spur of expanding needs and rising standards, they have liought for one street after another a first-class pave- ment, asking the engineers to give them a real good durable ar- ticle. To meet the demand for durability the engineers worked out the granite block pavement on a concrete foundation. This was somewhat as if the furniture men offered to our typical householder clumsy cast-iron furniture : the first cost is very high and comfort and appropriate grace of appearance are sacrificed for the sake of durability. Many other types of pavement have been experimented with, less durable than granite blocks; but even granite block pave- ment wears out faster than good and well-cared-for tables or chairs, and pavements have come to be regarded more in the way carpets are. — as things to be bought of as good quality as the purse will afford, to be used and swept and cleaned until they are worn out, and finally when they are no longer usable to be completely replaced. That is the common idea. But it would be a great deal fairer to compare many forms of street paving with a wooden house, which will last indefinitely if it is reshingled and repainted and otherwise repaired at sufficiently frequent intervals and at just the time when the repair begins to be needed, but Avhich if the weather is permitted to make inroads upon it will rot and collapse within a few years after the roof ceases to keep out the rain and snow. The undoubtedly bad and extravagantly costly pavements of the average American city are due to the prevailing weakness of 32 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT the ]K'i'iii;iiu'ii( adininistrativc staff EXTRAVAGANT PAVEMENTS and lo the Inct that it is easier -THE REAL MEASURE . , ., , OF COST ^^' iiuluco a city couiicu to ap- propriate a hii;- rouiid sum for a comi^lete new improvement than to A'ote funds for the unspec- tacular routine Avork of keeping the improvements alread}^ made from going to pieces h}- neglect. It is probably necessary to reck- on with this common attitude of mind in Boulder as elsewhere, but surely it is worth the effort to jiresent constantly and forcibly in connection with street pavements as with other improvement problems, the question of ^ET ANNUAL COST after allowing for depreciation and maintenance and interest charges AS THE PEOPEE MEASUEE OF THE COST OF EVEEY IMPEOVE- MEXT Avhether its first cost be high or low. Sheet asphalt is the standard smooth, clean, first-class pave- ment in American cities and there is often a tendency to adopt it as the ideal and use it regardless of circumstances. It is as a matter of fact open to serious objections for certain classes of streets; for example, it is very slippery and for that reason unfitted for any streets that are not nearly level; its volatile components are sub- ject to evaporation and under light travel "it rots" out long before it wears out, so that the deterioration rate is abnormally high on streets of light traffic; its first cost is high and the method of repairing requires special apparatus and special tech- nical experience, making its use relatively more costly and less satisfactory for small cities than for large cities, through putting the latter more at the mercy of the asphalt contractors. Creosoted wood block pavement on a concrete foundation is a close competitor of sheet asphalt. It is less noisy, rather pleas- anter to drive on, more slippery nn- MODERN WOOD BLOCKS ^j^^. ^^^^^ conditions and a trifle less slippery under others, almost equally cleanly, much more easily and simply repaired, probably much more durable under light traffic, and rather higher in first cost. Another competitor now pushing asphalt rather hard is the BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Itatculcd uiatcrial calUMl '■Ijitulithif." It is less slipjiorv tlian as- ])lialt. ahont cMjnally cleanly, is claim- BITULITHIC g^-i ^^ ^^g ^^^Q^.g (;]^^j.^^i3ie, though it has not been in use long enough to demonstrate this positively^ and its first cost is not far different. Paving hrick makes a hard smooth surface, about as slip- pery as asphalt under some circumstances and much less so under others; it is harder and more noisy; ^"^ it is not quite so easily cleaned, es- pecially when it becomes worn; it wears out faster under heavy traffic: and it costs, usually, considerably less. A^arious special types of composition block pavements have been tried but have not established a standard position for them- selves. The various forms of stone block pavement need hardly be con- sidered, for their advantages apply mainly to streets carrying a traffic heavier than anv that the city BLOCK PAVEMENTS ^^ Boulder has to deal with at present or seems likely to have in the immediate future. There remain to consider gravel and crushed stone roads. ATith the former Boulder has had a good deal of experience: they are known to be cheap in first cost GRAVEL ^^^^ ^|. ^i-^gj^j, ]3gg|-^ under light trav- el, to be very agreeable. They wear out rapidly and are apt to be dusty and muddy and otherwise dirty. It is probably fair to say, however, that if the construction of gravel roads were more scien- tifically done than it has been in Boulder in the past, and if they were more systematically repaired and maintained it would be pos- sible on streets of light travel to have gravel roads that Avould be far more satisfactory than the article to which Boulder citizens have become accustomed and at an additional annual cost which would be trifling compared with that of any of the pavements discussed above. As to crushed stone roads, it is probable that most of the citizens and officials of Boulder who have not happened to travel 34 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT much in Europe or in t-erlaiii very CRUSHED STONE limited districts iu tliis country, are under a serious misapprehension on this suhjeet. The things call- ed macadamized roads in a great many jiarts of this country are neither built in accordance with the principles which Macadam laid down nor are they maintained in sucli a manner as to get tolerably good results out of the construction, such as it is. We believe it to be a fact that imder a proper system of systematic maintenance and repair any street in Boulder, with the possible exception of a few main thoroughfares, could be paved with a first-class crushed stone pavement and kept permanently smooth and in satisfactory condition for a small part of the annual cost of sheet asphalt or other high-priced pavement, and that the sav- ing could be more i^rofitably expended in other directions. The chief objections to a macadam pavement for most of the streets of Boulder are that the wear is more rapid than when OBJECTIONS TO ^^"^ mineral particles are tirmly bond- MACADAM ed together as in asphalt or bitulithic, that more dust is therefore produced, and that as it is difficult to clean off the dust and mud thoroughly without further injury to the pavement they are allowed to accimiulate. The objection of the comparatively rapid wearing away of the surface and conse- quent roughness of pavement almost disappears under proper care and simply goes into the cost of maintenance. Proper clean- ing and watering reduce the objection on the score of dust and mud to a reasonable minimum, adding still further to the main- tenance cost. A crushed stone pavement merely put down and then almost neglected is a pretty poor investment, more so than a pavement of asphalt or brick, but one well laid and thoroughly well kept ^vill give results on most of your streets of which the city can be proud and the annual cost of which, maintenance and all, will not be unreasonable. It is true that the relatively dry climate of Colorado is less favorable to macadam than a moister one, tending to more dust and more rapid wear because the bond of the surface particles is more or less dependent upon moisture. For this reason it will 35 BOUI.DER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION probaLl}' be advisable, especially on steep grades where the tend- ciicv to "ravel" duriny- rainstorms is BITUMINOUS BINDERS ^^^^ marked, and npon any streets ^Yhere automobiles come to be common with their notable disin- tegrating effect upon the road surface, to utilize some of the special binding materials introduced of late years for dust laying and i)rotection against di>^ integrating action, such as asphaltic oil and the special coal tar preparations like "Tarvia," On streets ol light traffic- a good macadam, treated annually Avith a surfacing of Tarvia and stone-dust offers a surface having many of the advantages of a bitulithic or asphalt pavement at a very much lower cost. In our opinion, especially under the dryer climatic conditions of Colorado, it would be advisable to use a heavier ap- plication of Tarvia at the time of first construction than has been customary. The first cost is thereby slightly increased but the re- sults should he enoiTgh better to justify the difference. This method of impregnating the road for a depth of an inch or more with Tarvia is really a long step in the direction of a bitulithic (or asphalt) pavement, in which the WHOLE mass of broken stone (or of sand) is impregnated with a bituminous binder in- stead of only a thin top layer. In any experiments that may be tried in the iTse of Tarvia or similar coal tar preparations or asphalt it should be borne in mind that- apparently very slight THE CAUSE OF SUCCESS differences in method will change AND FAILURE WITH Bl- ,,■,,, , ,, TUMINOUS BINDERS ihe resuslts from success to utter failure. Success depends. first, upon getting the bituminous material of exactly the right composition, for which, practically speaking, reliance must be placed upon the knowledge and good faith of some concern that has had an extended and successful experience in producing ma- terial for just these uses; second, upon having the road metal in the right mechanical condition and thoroughly dry and sun- warmed, conditions easily obtained in Colorado; and third, upon heating the tar or asphalt to exactly the right temperature be- fore applying it. It is not at all difficult to secure these con- ditions by the exercise of some intelligent painstaking care, but THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT the margin between success and complete failure will be quickly crossed by the least carelessness or neglect. The asphaltic oils, from Texas or California, require less pre- cision in nsc to get good results, whether applied straight or, as we believe to be better, in the form OIL TREATMENT ^^ ^^^ cmulsioii with water. But there is no question, apart from practical advantages one way or the other, that the oil is in all respects much dirtier and less agree- able in its results. It is in fact quite offensive in appearance and often so in smell, and the particles of oily dust when they do get on to clothing or vehicles are a serious nuisance. To sum up as to improved street pavements, we are inclined, for ]nost localities in Boulder, to advise the use of macadam SUMMARY AS TO properly built and properly maintain- PAVEMENTS ed, with systematic cleaning and re- pairs and either systematic watering or the use of Tarvia for bonding the surface. "Where Tarvia is not used the watering should always be done by the City and not left to the discretion of the abutters, for it must be regarded not primarily as a method of mitigating the dust nuisance but as a means of preserving the bond of the road surface and prolonging the life of the road. In the matter of sidewalks the standard generally adopted in Boulder is a line of slabs either of stone or cement, from four to six feet wide, laid in the turf between the property line and the street trees which follow the curb. The standard is a good one and we have little to offer by way of suggestion. There appears at present to be a prejudice in favor SIDEWALKS ^_j? ^i^g cement slabs based in part upon a popular misconception, to Avhich it may be well to call atten- tion. The preference for the cement is based upon the idea that the cement walks are ipso facto smoother and less liable to hold puddles of water and to offer irregular joints on which to stumble. A somewhat careful examination of the Boulder sidewalks after a rainstorm confirmed what has been our observation elsewhere that so far as cement walks of the SAME AGE as the stone walks do possess these advantages it is not due to the fact that they are 37 BOULDER CITY IMPROVE^IENT ASSOCIATION made of cement but to the fact that they are laid on proper foundation of well-drained stone, cinders, sand or other firm porous material. Most of the Boulder flagstones are sufficiently smooth, individually, not to hold puddles except where a stone has settled below its neighbor or has been cracked on account of the settlement of the foundation. Poorly laid cement walks after a few years develop just the same defects and are somewhat more liable to fracture under the same conditions. We regard the choice between stone and cement when equally well laid as an aesthetic rather than a practical one. Personally we find the texture of the stone the more agreeable, but it is a matter that turns on local surroundings more than upon any general considerations. Another detail about the sidewalks is perhaps worth men- tioning. It appears to be a common though not universal practice, in order to prevent the flooding of the SIDEWALK EDGES sidewalks and the stone paths leading up to the doors liy the Avater used to irrigate the lawns, to dig little ditches about four inches wide and two or three inches deep m the turf along each side of the flagging. The appearance of these little gashes is certainly far from agreeable; it is indeed quite painful to the unaccustomed stranger; and assuming the practice to have resulted from a real practical need we have wondered if some better way could not be found for meeting the difficulty. In the case of cement walks it would be a simple mat- ter at the time of construction to form a groove or narrow gutter in the cement close to its edge, like a border line. In the case of the flagstone Avalks a narrow piece of flagging set on edge like a curb, coming to the same level as the walk or a trifle above it but removed about two inches from its edge would form a similar little gutter. It would be neat and orderly and instead of being separated from the grass by the frequently renewed raw and ragged edge of the little dirt ditch the stone would be in pretty contact with the overhanging blades of grass. Boulder is properly proud among Colorado towns on ac- count of its numerous and large street trees. Thev are an ex- THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT ample of the iniiueuse effect upon a STREET TREES town's appearance that may rapidly result from a popular custom once set agoing. The result is surely pleasing, yet as our function is not praise l)ut suggestion we must point out how much better it might have been had the popular tree planting habit been better guided, and how much it can still SILVER MAPLES AND ^"' "'^^^''^ved for the future. Everyone TREE BUTCHERY must admit that the planting of silver maples and cottonwoods has been overdone. The reasons why it was overdone are not far to seek, but overdone it was. The silver maple is one of the most brittle of trees and short-lived at that. It is as little adapted as almost any tree could be to withstand the pressure of late and early snows upon its brittle branches, and the practice of tree-butchery frequently resorted to as a precau- tion against snow-breakage is ugly in the extreme. Systematic annual pruning of a tree, even pruning so severe as to reduce the tree to a formal or geometrical outline, may be justifiable and proper under certain SYSTEMATIC PRUNING 'onaitions. and it will result in a character of twig and branch formation which, although quite different from that of the tree under favorable natural con- ditions, yet has a certain orderliness, is indeed the natural re- sponse of the tree to a new force systematically applied to it, just as a certain other twig and branch formation is its natural and characteristic response to the conditions of a constantly windswept situation. In other words such a systematically primed tree has a distinct and self-consistent character Avith a certain beauty of its own. which, we may or may not think appropriate under certain circumstances, but which we must recognize as being good of its kind. But a tree which is unsystenmtically and unsympathetically lopped off at irregular intervals and places and is permitted to grow without restraint or care in the interval, is apt to look like nothing but a miserable cripple. It would be a great deal better either to let the silver maple alone and prune the broken branches after each storm or else to lop it off once for all level with the ground and put in some tougher and more permanent tree. Another common defect of management in the Boulder 39 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION street trees is that they were phinted close when they were small trees in order to secure a good im- CLOSE PLANTING mediate effect, and, as often hap- pens where this is done, they were seldom thinned out when they began to crowd each other. Consequently in most of the streets the continuous foliage canopy has about twice as many trunks holding it up as is really necessary and the trees are less vigorous and healthy than they should be. In some cases it is just as well to accept the condition imtil the trees begin to fail seriously and then to make a new start with better trees; in others it Avould pay to thin out| even now. It is a matter for close personal judgment by a competent man going over all the trees, block by block. As to the kinds of trees suitable for street planting in Boulder it would be presumptuous for us to offer any positive advice when you have at Boulder a KINDS OF TREES thoroughly competent arboricultur- ist who has studied the subject for years. We refer to Mr. D. M. Andrews. AVe insert here a report from him upon the subject : Street trees in general should be: 1st. Enduring; that is, reaching prime of life at a great age, of strong and vigorous but not necessarily rapid growth, 2nd. Of pleasing proportions. 3rd. Bequiring a minimum amount of pruning or other attention. 4th. Free from insect pests or disease. Street trees for Boulder in addition should be: 1st. Capable of sustaining or of shedding from the branches without injury a heavy Aveight of snow. 2nd. Able to make a symmetrical growth Avithout tend- ency to lean or groAV one-sided Avhen exposed to prevailing Avest- ej'ly Avinds. In the opinion of the Avriter the folloAving named trees, 40 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT approximately in the order in which they are named, host meet the requirements stated above. Several other oaks may be sub- stituted, or these intei'chaiiged to meet special re([uir('ineiits or personal preference. All the other trees named are selected for individual characters, and for which other related sorts cannot be well substituted, with the exception of the Scotcli elm, instead of which certain horticultural forms of English elm, or certain types of American elm might be used if obtainable. 1. Thorulcss Honey Locust, Cleditsohia triacanthes inermis. 2. Red Oak, Quercus rubra. 3. White Oak, Quercus alba. 4. Horsechestnut, Aesculus Hippocastaneum. 5. Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum. G. Western Catalpa, Catalpa speciosa (must be true). 7. American Ash, Fraxinus Americana. 8. European Linden, Tilia Europaea. 9. Pin Oak, Quercus palustris. 10. Scotch Elm, Ulmus scabra. 11. Xorway Maple, Acer platanoides. 12. Kentucky Coffee Tree, Gymnocladus canadensis. In using anv of the trees in the above list or in experi- menting with others or guiding the development of any of the CONTROLLING PURPOSE ^'-^i^^^^S street trees, the controlling OF TREE PLANTING fact sho\dd always be borne in mind that the street does not exist for the purpose of growing arboricultural specimens but that the trees are grown for the purpose of contributing to the excelleiice of the street. A good general effect is the thing to aim at — one that shall be appro- priate to the conditions and circumstances of a given street. The suitable general effect should be decided on first and then the t]-ees so chosen, so planted, and so managed, Avhether by tliin- ning or leaving thick, whether by pruning or letting alone, as to accomplish that result. The kinds of effect that can be secured are infinitely va- 41 BOULDER CITY IMPROVE^IENT ASSOCIATION rifd. lia])iii]v einiTigh, but there are certain distinct types, and TYPES OF TREE ^""^"^ reference to tliem will make PLANTING clearer what we mean when we sa}^ that a o-iven effect onght to be chosen and then kept steadily in view in making every subsequent decision of detail, as to kinds of trees, spacing in the rows, location of rows,, method and ex- tent of prunino- up the lower branches, pruning or non-pruning of sides and tops, etc., etc. There are three marked types of tree-planting in use on straight, formal avenues and streets. The first is the over-arch- OVER-ARCHING "^8' ^JV^, in which the trees grow AVENUES to such size and form that their branches meet or nearly meet across the street, forming an um- brageous tunnel or vaulting, which may be lofty and pointed in its form, as often with elms and old cottonwoods, or may be low and flat, as often with maples. In this type of avenue the com- monest defect, especially where the straight vista is a long one. is inadequate height. Practically as well as aesthetically the systematic ])runing up of the lower branches, not all at once but gradually, as the tree grows taller, is very important in order to provide free circulation of air and to make it possible to illuminate the strtet properly at night, as well as in order to give height reasonably well proportioned to the length of the vista and to give an impression of pleasant spaciousness. This type is and must remain the commonest type on streets of ordinary width, and the need of systematic pruning of the growing trees in order to develop tall, clean, healthy trunks and high crowns is one of the strong arguments for public control of the street trees. A few low-branched, crooked trees allowed to grow in a form quite different from the general run of trees on a street will interrupt the vista and spoil the general effect no matter how much pains may be taken \nth the rest. The second type is the avenue which is open to tlie sky above but runs between high walls of foliage on either side. This is adapted onlv to avenues OPEN AVENUE ^^.^^^.^.^ .j^^ ^^^^^^^ between the rows of trees cun be consideral.il c. ]\Iost of our large-growing trees 42 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT will spread in time twenty-l'ivc to forty feet or so on each side of the tfiiiik ii' tliey have spaee for full development, and elms -will spread even further, so that in oi'der to leave a clear space of respectable Avidth between flanking masses of t;ill. free- growing foliage the trees must ordinarily be planted a hundred feet apart or thereabouts. But by choosing trees of tall and narrow form, as in the extreme case of the Lombardy Poplar, or by annual trimming of the side branches in the same way that a hedge is trimmed it is often possible to secure this type of avenue in a much more limited space; and of course in its 3'oungcr stages an avenue of the over-arching type generally takes on for a few years this second form. For an avenue of impressive length, especially for one that has any splendid ob- ject at the end of the vista, this second type is often preferable to the first, There are many streets in Boulder that lead toward wonderful views of the monntains, but which are so completel)' over-arched by trees that they might just as well be in a suburb of Chicago for all that anyone can see when he travels on them. This second type of avenue cannot be classed as superior to the first, or as inferior; it is merely different, and therefore pref- erable under certain conditions. Often it would be a toss-up which to choose, but choice must be exercised and when the choice is made the necessary steps must be taken to make it effective by selecting the species of tree with discretion, and by discretion in placing the rows, spacing the trees in the rows, an-l guiding the growth of the trees thereafter. A third type of avenue is one in which the trees instead of o\er-arching or enwalling the vista are mere decorative AVENUES DECORATED BY ^cln^^t'ts, the sides of the avenue SMALL TREES being really formed by the buildings. This means comparatively small trees, and is a type most appro- priate in busy city boulevards wdiere stores and tall buildings closely line the avenue, where large trees would l)e rather in the way and would cut off too nnich light from the windows. The type is common in French cities and would be here if our cities took more heed of the appearance of their streets. What we generally do in this country ^\•hen a street becomes so thoi-- BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION oiiglilv urban that the big trees arc out of ph^ce and in the way is to kill them ofE one by one and put nothing in their place. The French set out small trees that ornament and shade the sidewalks without bothering anybod3^ In part they use trees of species that by nature remain small and in part they accom- ]ilish the result by persistent trimming of top and side branches so as to make a series of semi-formal leafy umbrellas. This type is Avell adapted to certain situations in Boulder where any higli trecs along the sides of the street would cut off fine views of the foothills that are well worth keeping open. Looking west- ward on Pearl Street from Twelfth, although the buildings along the sides of the street are far from lovely and although the Avhole foreground has a rather shabby, dusty, untidy appear- ance which the presence of trees would do much to obscure and palliate, yet a traveler in search of the beautiful is really grate- ful that the trees are out of the way as his eye sweeps up to the broad sunset sky above the serried foothills and the notch of Boulder Canon. It would be a pity to have this scene obscured by over-arching elms or cottonwoods, to say nothing of their pos- sible interference with the shopping trade; but imagine the effect of lining each sidewalk with a row of handsome little trees grow- ing no more than about twenty feet in height, masking the crude appearance of the buildings, giving shade to pedestrians, and forming a verdant, flanking foreground for the distant view without encroaching on it. It is needless to go on to a discussion of variants of these types, because these Avill serve to make clear the principle that i]i street tree planting and in street tree maintenance, if you want to get good results you have got to make up your mind exactly what you want and then see that all the necessary steps are taken to produce just that particular thing — and not just '•'any old thing." It may be well, however, to point out that all of the above types refer to straight streets, of which the most striking feature UNIFORM TREES IN ^^ ^^^^ '^'^'^ ^^'^^^^^^ ^'^^^^ presents; and STRAIGHT STREETS that in all of those types a certain uniformity of treatment is essential from end to end of every 44 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT vista. Speeii'ieally, one kind of tree and one nietliod of treat- ment only should be adopted for each vista thus to be seen as a unit. When wc come to crooked or curving streets, of which Boulder is bound to see more as houses push on to crookeder ground, the case is radically altered. On a street that follows a gentle, sweeping curve, especially VARIED TREES ON u' the street be broad and dignified. PICTURESQUE STREETS ^.,. , -, ■ ^ -, ^ x • It still may be desirable to maintain a dignified uniformity of trees, at least for considerable distances; but on streets and roads that are distinctly picturesque in type, v/h ether built on a series of angles or on a series of curves, espe- cially if they be comparatively narrow, as with mountain roads or private drivcAvays, or mau}^ park drives, then uniformity of kind and size and shape and spacing in the trees that shade them ceases to be a \irtue and becomes a discordant note, totally out of keeping with the character of the way itself. Here, as always in matters of art, it is not what you do, but how and where you do it that counts. In most of the Boulder streets the straight alignment and limited width point definitely toward the use of a single kind of tree for each, so planted as LOCATION OF TREES ^^ over-arch the street. Ordinarily the best location is the usual one, between the curb and the sidewalk; but sometimes it would be better to plant the trees between the sidewalk and the property line. This gives a greater distance between the two opposite rows of trees, which is some- times desirable, even when an ultimate over-arching effect is aimed at. and is generally desirable "when a vista permanently open to the sky is wanted. But it has also two practical advan- tages to commend it in all residential sections, where the build- ings are set back from the street line. These advantages are, first, that the trees are much safer from injury by horses (a jn-olific cause of disease, decay and decrepitude in street trees); and second, that the tree roots are enabled to spread under the adjacent lawn and get much more moisture and nourishment than they are apt to get in the narrow strip between the paved road- way and the paved sidewalk. 45 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION This brings up the question of irrigation of street trees. Even in regions of much larger rainfall than Colorado it often IRRIGATION 'OF STREET I'tH-onics neoessarv to provide artifi- TREES cial irrigation for street trees if they arc to flourish successfully under the very unnatural con- ditions of city highways. Two principal methods are employed, sejDarately or in combination. One is to provide some system of sub-surface irrigation by laying tiles or blind drains in the soil at the time the tree is planted^ connecting witli one or more small boxes 6v drain pipes rising to the surface of the ground, through which in the dry season a large dose of water can be quickly run into the ground around the roots of the tree either by the use of a large hose connected with the regular street hydrants and moved quickly along from tree to tree, or by turn- ing in a surface stream from an irrigating ditch in the usual manner. In Berlin and many German cities such sub-surface irri- gation is customary, the Avatering hole of each tree being covered in some cases by a loose brick in the pavement of the sidewalk. The alternative method is much simpler and cheaper to install but is troublesome and laborious in operation and pre- cludes the maintenance of turf under the trees. It is to send a gang of men around once a month or so during the dry season to spade up and cultivate a patch of ground a few square yards in extent over the roots of each tree. When the soil is thus loosened a little dike is formed around the cultivated space and the area is flooded with water. The flooding is repeated once or twice if necessary and the ground is then smoothed over. This method is practically the same as that employed in orange groves and for other fruit trees in irrigation districts. l)ut wo have seen it employed on one of the fashionable avenues in the City of Berlin, and in most soils it is probably the more effica- cious method because the loosening and cultivation of the surface soil is as valual)le for a street tree as for a farm crop. With a moderately clean soil which does not get too muddy ^\•hen it is wet or form impalpable dust when dry, there is much THE FRED*ER1CK LAW OL^ISTED JR. REPORT less (ihjcct ion to cK'nii, tidv, well- BARE EARTH SURFACES ,^^,p. ,;,j.^. ,^.^,^ ,,^. ,^^,^.^^ ^^^^^^ ^1,,,, popular prejudice in America is apt to suppose, especially where such surfaces are well shaded by trees. Colorado has ])een settled mainly by people from the eastern states, which in turn received their traditions from England where, even more than in the eastern states, grass flourishes naturally and covers almost all nnpaved surfaces that are not kept tinder cultivation or subjected to the severest wear and tear or darkened by the densest shade; so that most people in Colorado as a matter of habit or tradition tend to think of grass as the only proper and pleasing treatment for the surface of nnpaved ground. AVe are not here arguing for the general substitution of bare earth for grass under the street trees: but we do mean to urge that there may be many places, especially in the leveler central and eastern parts of the city, where the soil is gravelly or sandy, and especially in places where the shade is dense or the wear and tear is heavy, in which it would bo possible by proper attention to keep a surface of bare earth looking a great deal neater and better than an attempt at grass could be kept and at a small fraction of the cost, while incidentally it would simplify the problem of properly irrigating the trees. Only it must first be got into the heads of people that the presence of bare earth does not justify neglect and that such a surface needs to be raked and swept and kept in order lil:e the floor of a house. But it takes less work to keep it in neat order than turf does in the Boulder climate. In localities where there is a great deal of wear and tear on the surface, as in busy shopping districts, it becomes practically PAVED SIDEWALKS OVER "ecessary to put down some hard TREE ROOTS pavement o\er practically the whole surface from curb to property line. Where this is done over the roots of established trees they may last a long time after the paving, but it is hard upon them and it makes the growth of young trees very slow and difficult. Unless some special precautions are taken in such cases for the permanent main- tenance of the trees they are very apt to go. The best method, judging from the experiments of European cities where the 47 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION most attention lias been given to these matters, is to loAver the surface of the soil in which the tree is planted a few inches below the finished grade of the sidewalk, say about the level of the street gutter, and to lay that part of the sidewalk which comes over this soil area in the form of slabs, either of cast iron or of stone or reinforced concrete, supported at their edges only, with an air space between them and the surface of the soil. The sidewalk slabs can be lifted once a year or so and the soil cultivated and manured, while irrigating can easily be done at any time without disturbing the sidewalk at all. If the soil under the slabs is at or slightly below the level of the gutter and the curb has occasional openings in it tlie soil receives natural irrigation at every rainstorm and artificial irri- gation is accomplished merely by turning a stream into the gutter when watering is required. A modification of the usual sub-surface irrigation system is one in Avhich the holes whicH lead into the irrigation pipes or blind wells of the tree pits open out of tlie gutter in the same way as the above. But there is danger of over-watering by either of these methods except where the soil is verv porous and Avell-drained. To sum up in regard to street trees: The planting of trees in the streets and their maintenance or neglect may be left, and SUMMARY AS TO SHADE "^ "^^^^'T eommunities are left, to TREES clianee and private initiative. If this policy is pursued the inevitable result, with the growth of a city, is the gradual disappearance of street trees following a long period of raggedness and shabby decline. Half-hearted and unsystematic efforts on the part of the municipality may pro- long the period of decline, arrest it sporadically, or sporadically establish new rows of shade trees; but if satisfactory results are to be secured the matter has to be taken up seriously and sys- tematically, with a fair counting of the cost, because here as elsewhere it is impossible to get something for nothing and under the arduous conditions to be found in city streets any trees worth the having can be permanently maintained only by systematic and somewhat costly care — and that care must be directed not so much to immediate conditions and result as to 48 THE F'REDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT couditions and results years in tlie future, because the princi- pal returns from any expenditures on street trees can be obtained only after a long period. It takes about twenty years before most planted trees begin to be really fine, and their lifetime thereafter, if wise precautions have been taken in planting and caring for them, is apt to be anywhere from twenty-five to a hundred years or more. The return is an annual one, and it is obvious that the biggest returns on any investment in the planting and maintenance of street trees are to be secured only when steps are taken to secure those returns during a long period of years after the time the trees have reached a respect- able size. The usual methods are such that city street trees begin to go to the bad long before they reach the period of their full value, and by far the major part of the expected return upon the investment is entirely lost. In every cii,y there are many streets where it would cost more to establish and maintain good and long-lived trees than they Avould be worth. In some streets it pays best to main- tain cheap, quick-growing trees for a few jeavs at a time, in some streets no trees at all, in some streets trees of a compact, small-growing habit, in others trees of great height and spread, like the American Elm. These questions can be intelligently decided only after full consideration of such questions as the width of street and sidewalk, the present and prospective char- acter of occupancy and amount of travel, the character of the sub-soil and' exposure, and the possibility and estimated cost of establishing and maintaining successfully certain alternative styles of street tree plantations. To handle this street tree problem in a businesslike way each street or distinct portion of a street ought to be taken up on its own merits, in relation to its surroundings and con- ditions, and after reasonable inquiry into the facts and con- sultation Avith the abutters by hearings or otherwise, it should be decided what definite policy it will best pay to adopt in regard to trees in that street during the next fifty oi"* seventy- BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION five years, considering the probable results of the proposed policy and facing the necessary cost fairly and squarely. Xext to the street trees the most conspicuous objects in the streets are the various necessary fixtures, such as lamp-posts. hydrants, street name signs, mail- STREET FIXTURES hoxeii, fire-alarm and police-tele- phone boxes, boxes or cans for papers and other waste, etc.. and poles for the support of various electric wires, together with the wires which they carry. The first principle in regard to these fixtures is to combine them as much as possible so as to reduce the number of obstructions and of confusing objects on the sidewalks; the second principle is to make them as simple and as agreeably proportioned as possible, \^dth little ornament, but of pleasing outline. As to the poles for the support of telephone and telegraph and electric light wires, the ultimate ideal is unquestionably their entire removal and the substitu- tion of underground conduits, but as an immediate practical matter the effort should be to adhere more rigidly to the prin- ciple, already somewhat general in Boulder, of confining such poles and overhead wires to the alleys. It is by no means a UtojDian project, however, to under- take the gradual introduction of underground conduits for the wire?, beginning with the central UNDERGROUND WIRES ^,^^^.^ ^f ^j^^ ^-^^ ^^^^ gradually ex- tending. But the thing must be taken up in a conservative, businesslike way with the electric service companies concerned and a reasonable policy adopted. It is true that in a com- munity the size of Boulder the annual cost of an underground conduit service, allowing for the interest on the investment, would be higher than that of an overhead service, even allow- ing for the greater depreciation and repair charges of the latter; and added to this extra annual cost is the difficulty of financ- ing the first investment for the conduits. But there is no doubt on tlie other hand that the gradual elimination of the overhead wires will be of very real advantage to the community and is worth paying for. The community must pay for it in the long run, for no good is to be obtained in the end by trying 50 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT to beat the electric service corporations out of a fair jjrofit; but on the other hand the commimity ought to make sure that tlie companies do not screw an unfair profit out of it or give it a poorer equipment and service than it is entitled to get for the price it is willing to pay. In the matter of putting tlic wires underground either one of two policies may 1)e foi- lowed: One is for the city to build and own the conduit, appropriating to that end a certain amount every year and plan- ning the system in conference with the experts of the electric service corporations, and then require the companies to put their wires into the conduits district by district as tliey are completed; the other is to decide after thorough conference with the companies upon certain dates within which the wires are to be put underground in certain districts by the companies in their own conduits, and then hold them to a strict account- ability for completing the work in each district on time. In either case both the public and the stockholders of the companies are entitled to a thorough investigation of costs and the deter- mination of rates that shall be a fair compensation for the equipment and service provided, neither more nor less. Few people realize the great importance of this matter of overhead wires as affecting the appearance of the city because custom gradually blunts our sensi- THE GREAT HARM IN OVER- ])[\[iy to the effect of the wires and HEAD WIRES AND POLES , " „,, ,., • -^^.x-.^ poles. They are like an irritating, little noise to which one gets so accustomed as not to notice it at all until it ceases; then one suddenly becomes aware of a grateful, refreshing quietness. In a city the only thing the eye can rest upon that is not necessarily controlled by man, either for good or bad, is the sky; and while we are most actively conscious of the objects on or near the ground, with which we have immediate practical con cern, our feelings of pleasure or depression are largely depend- ent upon the sulx-onscious effect of the ever-present sky, whether it be bright and soft and beautiful, or overcast with clouds or smoke, or obscured with ugly and inharmonious objects of 51 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION hiuiian lilt L'rjfc lion. Both in the slightness of the impression it ordinarily makes on the attention and in its immense real effect upon the general sense of pleasure or discomfort, the appearance of the sk;y and what is seen against it may be com- pared with the purity of the air habitually breathed or with the degree of noise or cpiict in habitual surroundings. The nervous system can be adjusted to almost any constant surroundings so that they cease to be noticeable, no matter how noisy or how foul, but the effect of the conditions upon the health of the nervous system and upon the general sense of well-being does not cease when the attention becomes blunted. In the matter of street lighting Bouhler has a capital oppor- tunity in the proposed municipal ligiiting plant, to be operated by the surplus head of the city STREET LIGHTING ^^.,.^^^^, ^^^pp]^- ^^yl^l^ ^^^ g^cess of available water power the city should be able to afford the luxury of the very best of lighting. iSTow, apart from the ques- tion of cost, one of the elements of excellence in street lighting, whether from the practical or aesthetic point of Yiew, is the use of numerous Avell-distributed small units instead of a more lim- ited number of very powerful units. Especially in a city like ARC VERSUS INCANDES- I^^^^'^^^'i'- ^hcre the streets are full CENT LIGHTING of tToes. powerful arc lights at rela- tively infrequent intervals give far less satisfactory results than numerous incandescent lights, because the trees are apt to throw large parts of the street into black shadows unless the lights are set so low as to dazzle and blind the eyes in approaching them, whereas the incandescent lights may be set below the foliage level without the slightest objection and give a much more uni- form as well as a mellower light and more decorative effect. It is to be hoped, therefore, that incandescent lighting may be adopted as the standard, for the residence streets at all events. It is hardly necessary to say that the design of the lamp-posts is an important matter, too generally treated with carelessness. A good deal of money has to be LAMP POSTS spent upon them and cast iron costs about llie same amount per pound whether it is given the clumsy. THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT uninteresting, or ill-deeoratcd i'onn ot some stock pattei'ii oi' a really distino-uishcd and beautiful form specially designed for the city by ni\ able artist. A moderate investment in devising a first- class pattern for sucli posts is a very good investment.* Other objects "witiiin the highway limits, street signs, hy- drants, rubbish boxes, catch basin inlets, etc., and especially large ARTISTIC DESIGN OF structures, like' bridges, offer in MUNICIPAL CONSTRUCTION their location and design an inter- minable series of pro])lems, both large and small, calling for the joint a])p]ication of teclmical knowledge, artistic skill and good common sense. In proportion as these qualities are jointly ap- plied to all of such problems the streets of the city will improve and in proportion as any or all these qualities are left out ol: consideration the streets will suffer. It is only by unusual good fortune that a city can fill its service with men Avho are thor- ougiily and adequately strong in all three of the requisite cjual- ities, and practical!}^ in order to accomplish good results the most important thing is that there should be a clear recognition of the natural liuman limitations of responsible officials and that they should be provided with assistants or Avith consulting advisors competent to help them out on their short suits. An official may be somewhat short on artistic skill or on technical knowledge or even on both provided he has common sense and the desire and opportunity to get the co-operation of people who are long Avhere he is short, and he will get good results. But somehow or other all three of the abo^'e qualities must be brought to bear or the results will be relatively unsatisfactory. Assuming that the leading responsible officials are reason- ably long on common sense and honest desire for excellence and efficienc}^ it ought to be possible to secure as assistants, if a reasonably ]iermanent tenure could be assured, men having botli teclmical and artistic training. But aside from any doubts about the above premises, it is very hard to find assistants having a technical training in municipal construction work who have any artistic training at all. The artistic aspect of construction work *For arc lights the form of suoport and lights introduced in the South Park System of Chicago and known as the Daniels System of boulevard lighting is worth careful consideration. BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION is so generally ignored in the training of civil engineers, and on the other had most architects and architectural draughtsmen are so lacking in the particular kind of technical knowledge retjnired in namicipal work, that the right combination is very hard to find. 3Ien with a sound, professional training as land- scape architects might come a little nearer to filling the bill than architects, but the number of such men available a.s mu- nicipal employees is too small to be Avorth mentioning. Prac- tically dependence muist be placed mainly on securing assistants whose training has been along engineering lines, leavened if pos- sible by a small proportion who have had artistic training in landscape architecture, architecture or otherwise, and on supple- menting this somewhat one-sided agency by the occasional or regular services of a consulting architect and a consulting land- scape architect. Of course, when it comes to the design of a school house or the laying out of a park, or the adoption of a radically new Avater THE EMPLOYMENT OF SPEC- ^^^PP^^ °^ Sewerage system, it is cns- lAL EXPERT DESIGNERS tomary and proper to select and em- ploy for that special undertaking an expert who has proved by his work elsewhere that he has special skill in dealing with such a problem. But it is neither con- venient nor economical nor productive of harmonious results to parcel out all the minor constructional problems of a city among independent professional men. Up to a certain limit of magni- tude and difficulty the problems ought to be dealt with by a de- partmental force, the responsible executive head of which is nor- mally an engineer. In cities of moderate size there is one such department under a City Eugiuccr, and in very large cities sev- eral such departments, under independent Chief Engineers. But in any case the Avork turned out by such city departments is apt to 1)0 of better all-round quality if the responsible execu- tive head has the privilege of informal consultation with certain other experts, especially on artistic matters. The City of ISTew York has recently established the office of Consulting Architect to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, the holder of THE FRED'ERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT which office is del^arrcd from undertaking any architectural work for the city on his own account, hut whose advice as a consultant is open to any of the city departments that prepare projects for construction to he passed on hy the Board. The principle is a sound one and ought to he more generally applied. 55 Waterways and Related Park Opportunities The prJneip;il waterway in Boulder is Boulder Creek, and its principal function, from which there is no escaping, is to carry off the storm-water which runs into FLOODS -^ j^.j,Q^^^ ^Yie territory which it drains. If, lulled by the securit}^ of a few seasons of small storms, the community permits the channel to be encroached upon, it will inevitably pay the price in destructive floods. So with the chan- nel of Sunshine Canon and others of less importance. In the case of Boulder C-reek the formation of the ground indicates that at one time or another the stream has spread or wandered over the whole of the low-lying part of the- city. Its present banks in that section arc low and the larger floods have always been re- lieved in the past by a great increase in the width of the stream whenever it has risen more than a few feet above its normal summer level. The fact that the lands nearest to the stream channel are so obviously subject to flooding has tended auto- matically to retard their occupation and keep them free for the passage of floods, but increasing land values are steadily in- creasing the inducements offered to the owner of any given parcel of these lands to fill it to a level above what he guesses ENCROACHMENTS ON ^^'"^ ^^°°^"^S '"^^ ^^^^^^ '^"'^'^ ^0 ^^^^^"^ FLOOD PLAIN upon it. It is ol)vious that if this process goes on without the exercise of any control for the pur- pose of maintaining an adequate channel, the cheap, unoccupied low-lands over which the flood-waters now pass harmlessly away will all be filled up and occupied; and then Avhen a big flood comes, larger than the restricted channel can carry, the flood is going to tear through streets and houses, doing immense dam- age. Again and again this little piece of history has repeated itself on stream after stream, in town after town; and after the damage from exceptional floods has come to be enormous the community has gone to work at further great expense to widen and otherwise increase the capacity of the storm channel, often 56 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT condeinniug buildings and building land of much value to secure the necessary relief. It is well to point out in this connection that the City of Boston, through neglecting to take action to prevent encroach- ment on the channel of Stony HOW BOSTON PAID FOR ,, , i ii + 4-1 „„ NEGLECTING ITS LITTLE J>i'ook — a much smaller stream tlian FLOOD PROBLEM Boulder Creek and much less tor- rential ill character — was finally compelled by repeated flooding of streets and basements to undertake radical improvements which have cost to date upwards of two million dollars. Unless some systematic community action is taken for the regulation of the stream and its banks and flood channel one or the other of two serious economic THE RESULTS OF ^ • i i . x i i NEGLECTING BOULDER wastes IS T)Ound to take place. CREEK Either a good deal of the low land near the stream will remain unimproved, idle, and neglected, tending to depreciate values near it and involving a serious loss of the opportunity afforded by its location near the heart of the town; or else this land will be filled and used for private pur- poses, thus restricting the flood channel of the stream and sooner or later causing calamitous floods. This is on its face a plain, straightforward question of hy- draulics and municipal common sense. If the people of Boulder only have the sense to take warning by the experience of other towns they will deal with it now, while it can be dealt with cheaply and easily, instead of waiting till a catastrophe forces them to remedy their neglect under conditions that will make a solution far more costly and less satisfactory. AVhat would be a businesslike procedure? First, to form a serious and painstaking estimate or forecast of the maximum HOW TO DEAL WITH THE ^'^^^^"^ "^ ^^<^"'^ ''"^^'''' '''^^''^^' ^^'^ FLOOD PROBLEM creek is likely to have discharged into it in the future, based upon a careful compilation and study of all the existing records and reports of past floods and upon a comparison of the extent and character of the drainage area 57 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION and the precipitation thereon with those of other comparahle streams of wliich tlie flood records have been kept. With this estimate it is a relativel_y simple matter for a hydraulic engin- eer to figure how mnch of a channel must be left to provide free outlet for the expected flood without its being forced to tear through the streets. It is a complicated technical investigation, but in principal it does not differ one whit from the process through which a AV'oman goes when she looks at the bowl into which she is about to turn a can of peaches and makes up her mind whether it Avill hold what is in the can. Either it will or it won't, and she is a foolish woman if she gives no heed to the probabilities until the peaches slop over on the table. AVithout attempting to anticipate the results of a careful investigation of the flood jiroblem of Boidder Creek it is safe to sav tliis: There are two general TYPES OF TREATMENT • ^^:^^^^ ^^^ channel adapted to meet such conditions as Boulder Creek presents. One is the relatively narrow walled channel of relatively great depth, deep enough or high- sided enough io take any expectable increase of flow with- out an appreciable widening of the stream. This may be called the artificial reproduction or imitation of a canon or gorge. The other ]H'ovides a small shallow channel for the ordinary stages of the stream but permits the w^ater when it rises above the" level of this low-water channel to spread out and occu^jy a much broader flood-channel, Avhich can carry it off without forcing it to rise much higher. This is of course an adaptation from the ordinary form of a natural river channel in lowland country. Where land values are very high and land is preoccupied by buildings, etc., so that the saving in width will pay for the cost of construction of the deep channel with its high, protecting walls and numerous incidental expenses, the former is generally em2)loyed even in flat ground, but where land values are lower the latter is apt to be employed. We are strongly inclined to believe that at least below the Twelfth Street bridge the latter will prove ihe more economical and satisfactory plan. Under THE T^RED'ERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT sucli a plan, in a city, one great INCIDENTAL VALUE OF inpiVlpnt-il viluc attacllGS to the FLOOD CHANNEL MARGINS ^""Cientai \aiiu auacncs xo iiit iiiai'iiiiis of flat land subject to occa- sional flooding Avhieli intervene between the ordinary channel and the outer embankments that limit the flood channel. AVitli the exception of a few days in the year these "washes," as such lands are calli.'d in the English midlands, are dry ground, avail- able for any kind of use not inconsistent with the free passage of the flood waters when the time comes. To make a "park"' of such ground in the sense in which that much abused term is often applied, as indicating something very highly polished and exquisite with costly flowers and other decorations of a kind that would be ruined bv flooding, would A BOULDER CREEK "PARK" ^^^ foolishness. But the plan of keeping open for public use near the heart of the city a simple piece of ])rettv Ijottom-land of the very sort that Boulder Creek has l)cen flooding over for countless centuries, of growing a few tough old trees on it and a few bushes, and of keeping the main part of the ground as a simple, open common, where the chil- dren can play and over which the wonderful views of the foot- hills can be oljtained at their best from the shaded paths and roads along the embankiuent edge — this would give a piece ot recreation ground worth a great deal to the people. And at the same time it is probably the cheapest Avay of handling the flood problem of Boulder Creek. Before discussing further the landscape treatment of the "washes" of Boulder Creek, in ease of the adoption of the treat- ment we suggest for the flood channel, we should like to set forth certain considerations that have a general application to any parks or pleasure grounds that may be undertaken in the city. The three great natural advantages attainable within the city of Boulder are: First, the climate, supplemented by ample water, without which the climate FUNDAMENTALS ,, , • , n . OF PARK DESIGN FOR woulcL become a curse mstead oi a BOULDER blessing; second, the views toward the beautiful foothills; third, the eastward views from the higher 59 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION groiiiK,! ill the wepterii parts of the city out over tlie plains. ^n a region of brilliant sunshine which at times hecomes distiiictl}' too hot for the greatest comfort and at times is sought THE OUTLOOK FROM ^''''' '''^ grateful Avarmth by anyone SHADE TO SUN who can find a sunny spot that is sheltered from the driving wind, two types of situation and of landscape become of especial value. One is the densely shaded promenade or grove from which one can look out upon the con- trasting brilliancy of open sunshine and luminous air, and enjoy its lirilliancc the more for the contrast. To stroll or sit on a warm day beneath clean-stemmed trees through which the breeze may freely draw, to feel their canoj)y overhead protecting the eye from the glare of sky and sun, and to look out upon an open space batbed in the brilliant sunshine, even if it be but a little open courtyard or lawn or a street, is to taste one of the highest charms of the wonderful climate with which Boulder is blessed. The other type of situation is a nook sheltered from the search- THE SUNNY ^^^^ winds by wall or hedge or mass SHELTERED CORNER of trees but freely open to the sun above. In either case one of the essentials is a certain amount of clear open space not obstructed by trees or buildings or anything rising much above the surface. Again; if one would enjoy the view of the foothills or the occasional glimpse of the Arapahoe Peaks looming up over the notch of Boulder Canon from any place in the central or eastern part of the city he must bear in mind that houses and trees will completely shut off those views unless he can find a spot in front of which there is open ground in the line of view entirely free from such obstructions for a considerable distance. Any intelligent effort in the way of providing public recrea- tion grounds in Boulder and especially in the flatter eastern part thereof cannot fail to be profoundly influenced by the above con- siderations. Except where peculiar circumstances dictate some other treatment, the problem must be to secure, with whatever variation in detail and in expression, certain elements of design essential to utilizing the great natural resources of the situation; 60 TPfE FREDERICK LAW OL^ISTED JR. REPORT a more or loss dcnsclv shaded A SPECIAL TYPE OF RECRE- , ,, ' ,- ATION GROUND PROPER iMuiiu'iiade goiUTally surrounding FOR BOULDER ;,ii,| always contiguous to an open space which shall be preferably free from all obstructions rising above the level of the eye, and which sliall Ije of such size and shape i]i relation to the height and character of the enclosing objects as to afiord permanent views of the foothills from the promenade, and preferably from the open space itself, over a pleasing foreground. These essentials may be secured again and again without any sameness, indeed with infinite variation of character if proper skill be used. The shaded promenade may be a vine-clad arl»or or a formal and orchard-like grove or a\enue of trees; it may be a winding path that picks its way along within the margin of the most irregular and pictttresque of varied plantations. The open space may be a garden all aglow with bloom, or a smooth, irrigated grass plat, or a field of alfalfa ready for the scythe, or the smooth, bare surface of a playground, or a Avide basin of water where children could Avade and play Avith boats or even go in SAvimming, or it may be the rough, unkempt but cleanly surface of a pasture. The principle is the same in aiiy case, though the execution be indefinitely varied. In the Ireatment of the "Avashes"' of Boulder Creek this principle points to the concentration of the tree planting mostly THE DESIGN OF THE BOUL- '^^""8" ^^'^ ''""'^'^^ ^^"^^^ P'^*^^^ ^^ *^^ DER CREEK RESERVATION bordering embankments, the careful studying out of the best vieAvs and the limiting of all other tree and shrub groAvth to locations that will never interfere Avith these views but merely afford them pleasing frames. The treat- ment of the remaining surface is something of a problem. Ever}'- requirement of landscape enjoyment Avould be met by lajdng it doAvn in alfalfa and either cutting it for hay or pasturing it. ludced it Avould be a simple and inexpensive Avay of maintaining a beautiful piece of park-like landscape to fence off the "washes'" from the roads and paths of the enclosing embankment and turn cattle in to graze at so much per head. This Avonld not prevent those Avho are uuafraid of coavs from strolling along the stream BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION or througli liic fields and it would cerlaiiily tend to form a very beautiful type of landscape excellently suited to the circum- stances. No one can doulit this who has seen the little hits of pastured ground along the creek ahove the railroad, where gypsies or oth.er campers have been in the habit of gathering and turning loose their animals to graze. If cattle are to be excluded from the "washes"'" and if they are opened to general trampling by the public, some experimenting will have to be done to find the best treatment of the surface; but wdiatever hapjiens we hope the city will not be led into the foolish extrav- agance of trying to make an artificial clipped lawn of these areas. Such a treatment would be far less beautiful and far less appro- priate, as well as far more costly, than to treat it as rough jiasture or mowing land — just set apart to be seen and enjo^'ed from the ample j^aths and roads on its margin during all times of year, to serve as a simple open foreground to the lovely dis- tant views, and to serve when the floods come down as a vent for their rising volume. The width as well as the treatment of the proposed public holdings along Boidder Creek must be adjusted in detail accord- ing to land prices and local avail- OUTLINE OF PROPOSED ,*:,. , \ PUBLIC HOLDINGS ALONG ability tor park jmrposes as well as BOULDER CREEK ]jy hydraulic requirements, but a su]ierficial study of the situation suggests the following approxi- mate outline. Starting down stream, beginning at the Twelfth Street bridge where the land values are high, we advise limit- ing the control of the banks to a very narrow strip on each side, enough only to provide an adequate channel for the stream, with substantial walls to protect its banks in place of the present wooden bulkheads whenever their reconstruction is justified, with an ample foot-path shaded by a single row of trees along the north embankment and with some planting against the Twelfth Street, lots on the south embankment. After getting Ijeyond Twelfth Street lots the breadth of the embankment could be increased at small expense, giving room for more trees and for Ijenches, etc. 62 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT At'ler reaching Anii)alioG Avenue (by means oi' wiiiuk ve- hicles can reach the h;inks of the stream from Twelfth Street without the necessity of any costly RIVER DRIVE ^^^,^^, roadway through expensive property) the left !)ank of the creek Avould be bordered by a l)ark drive and promenade, overlooking the water and command- ing occasional views across it to the foothills. This boundary drive or street would be set at a grade Just sufficiently higli to protect tlie lands northeast of it from flooding and would ai5 the same time form a very attractive new street for house front- age, thus tending to raise adjacent values considerably, ft Avoidd reach IT Hi .Street Jast north of the bi'idge, and would be continued east of JTtli Street on a due east line, passing Just south of the occupied lot on the southeast corner of l?tli and Athens Streets. On the south side of the stream below the Arapahoe Avenue bridge it would seem expedient to widen boldh^ and include the consi{lera1)le tract of vacant level PLAYFIELD ^.^^^^l ^^-^^^ between the railroad and the creek east of the lots which face on 12th Street. This tract would be very useful as a playfield and as an open space over which to enjoy the foothill views from the drive and path along the north bank already described. Where the houses have been built close to the stream bank Just west of the 17th Street bridge, of course it would not pay to take any land, except the valueless land under water in the bed of the stream itself. The reason for accjuiring the latter is to guard effectively against any encroachment upon the stream in connection Avith possible fur- ther imjn-ovements of this land and to put the city in a position to put up an embankment Avail on the Avest sidei of the stream if it should at any time seem desirable. But since the city could not acquire any holdings above this bank at ])resent Avith- out getting into rather heavy damages it is not advisable for the city to take over the burden of maintaining the ])rotection of the Ijank itself against the Avash of the stream. East of 17th Street on the right bank a new street or park- 63 BOULDER CITY niPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Avav already referred to should, be laid out, starting from 17tli " UPLAND DRIVE AND ^^''"^^ ^-*3' ^^ ^'''^''^ ^''^^ ^^uth of VIEW the l)ridge, passing south of Mr. Paree's house ahout on the line between his lot and that of! the University, and rising b}' an easy grade along the steep hillside below the Hospital so as to reach the upper level about opposite the end of Palmer Street produced. Such a drive running along the edge of the bluff would command a superb A'iew of the city with the mesas and foothills rising behind it to the north and northwest, with the valley of the creek in the foreground. Unless some such drive is Imilt, this view, which is one of the most characteristic in the city, will be permanently lost to the public. The University originally commanded this very view, but the location of the railroad and the building up of intervening lots have already greatly impaired that outlook, and the process is still going on. Soon no one will get the benefit of this situation but some of the patients in the back rooms of the Hospital and those occupying the back rooms and back yards of a few private lots on Universit}^ Avenue. The accompanying sketch shows the type of cross section we have had in mind for this drive and jDromenade. It is assumed to be taken at a point a little west of the line of Palmer Street. At the rear of the Hospital the road Avould be wholly in fill; at the vipper end it Avould be perhaps wholly in cut. This drive Avould cross the County Eoad at or about the corner of University Avenue and continue on to the end of the ridge at 28th Street, Avhere it might be expected to branch, one branch following along the south side of the creek on the low ground and the other extending as a thoroughfare to the southeast. AYith the exception of the brick yard and a small dwelling near the County Road and of Mr. Paree's dwelling just east of ITth Street, all of which might be omitted from the purchases, the property between this proposed drive and the creek is of very little market value and should be secured for park ])urposes very cheaply. For park jmrposes it is decidedly valuable as the fore- ground to a series of inspiring views from the high level parkway, 64 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT and as the enclosure and protection of the landscape ol' the creek over which the views of the foothills are lo Ije ohlaiiied lYoin the low level parkway on the north hank of the creek. Returning to the lattei'. there are some large vacant fields just Avest of the County Eoad and extending practically u]) to the RIVER DRIVE AND LARGE ^'^^"^^ ^^ ^^^^ J.incoln School. This IS ATHLETIC FIELD the nearest point to the heart of the city and to the principal schools where a good sized field can he secured, and the purchase of it at ])]'esent prices is very much to he desired. Between the County Road and the outfall of the city sewer a much more limited taking woidd suffice to protect the stream and afford an agreeahle parkway. Indeed all that is needed in tliis whole section from ITth Street eastward is an inexpensive gravel road and somie skillful thinning of the trees and hrush to make a ])arkway of very remarkahle heauty. It is at present such a difficult matter to make one's Ava}^ along the creek through fences and thickets and other ohstruetions that we venture to guess there are very few citizens of Boulder who have any conception of the potential heauty of such a parkway as is here suggested. And always it is to be borne in mind that sooner or later the problem of controlling and caring for the flood waters of the creek will force the city to take control of the channel. If action is delayed THE COST OF DELAY ^^^ j^^^g. ^j^^ ^^^^^ ^.^^^^^^ ^^^-^^ ^^^ ^ costly piece of engineering construction serving no purpose other than the prevention of floods; whereas if the matter is taken in hand noAv the city will spend less money on the hydraidic im- provement and get a beautiful parkwav to boot. We have made no examination of the creek banks below the sewer outfall, because there is no hurry about that part of the improvement, but it Avould seem desirable ultimately to extend the parkway indefinitely in the direction of Yalmont and the lakes. Just what to do in the neighborhood of the sewer outfall is a complicated question about Avhich we have only certain gen- eral considerations to put before you. SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANT r^^^^ ^^^.^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^ permanently suit- able method of selvage disposal is one which the City of Boulder 65 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Avill sooner or later liave to faee. At present the sewage is dis- charged with all its dangerons impurities into Boulder Creek a short distance helow the town, and passes in a somewhat diluted condition into the several intakes that supply water to various localities further down the stream. Experience elsewhere indi- cates that considerations of public health will require these condi- tions to l)e remedied and that either voluntarily or under legal compulsio]\ Boulder will have to assume the burden of disposing of its' sewage without menace to the health of other communi- ties. Of late years under careful scientific study of the problem the method most generally adopted for the purification of munic- ipal sewage has been the use of "bacterial filtration beds," so- called, in some of their inany forms. The same results in trans- forming the dangerous organic matter of the sewage into harm- less com])ounds have also been obtained, and to' a great extent by identical iiatural processes, where the sewage has been applied not to bare filter beds but to cultivated and productive sewage farms. The chief reasons whv the SEWAGE FARMS i,.^^.^ ^.jj^^.,. 1,^,^^^ j^.^^.^ ^^^^,^^ ^^^^^^^ in American cities as against the irrigated sewage farm are, we believe, first, that the area required to deal with a given amount of sewage is smaller in rhe case of the bare beds, and second, (bat under ordinary conditions of municipal management, the farming is a more comj)licated business than city employees can be expected to carry on successfully, even though it might bring in enough incoiue if skillfidly handled to pay for a competent manager. Another reason is that in the East, where most of the development in sewage disposal methods has thus far taken place. irrigation farming is an unaccustomed idea and water is generally regarded merely as something to be got rid of in the easiest pos- sible way. It is hardly necessary to say that the latter condition is entirely reversed at Boulder and that every economic reason points toward the utilization of the Boulder sewage for irrigation purposes. ^Ye have been given to understand that an offer has already been made to ]iay the city for the right to use the outflow from the sewer for irrigating private lands. THE FREDERICK LAW OL^ISTED JR. REPORT There appeni' in he two somid I'casdiis lor ol)jcct iii^i' to this method of dealing witli tlie (|iU'>tion and For ])i'( feri'inii- a sewage REASON FOR A CITY SEWAGE '''''■"' "^^■"'''' ''>' ^''^' '■'^>- '^^'"' '''^"'^ FARM is a sanitary nnv. The pi-iniary purpose of the muh'rtaking l)eing to ])roteet tlie public health it would he very unwise for tlie city to turn over the handling ol this (hmgeroas though useful material to a pri\ate party whose main ohjecf wouhl not he to make sure ot its purification, but to use it in the handiest way for irrigation. The second reason is that owing to the difficidty and cost of frequently changing the point ot discharge of the sewage there Avouhl he little if any com- petition in l)idding for its use and the city would he more or less at the merer of the land o\\'ners with whom the first con- tracts were made. On the other hand if tlie sewage were a}t]»lied to land owned hy the city the business of growing ero])s on the irrigated land, under proper restrictions for insuring the sani- tary disposal of the sewage and preventing the use of crops (like lettuce, etc.) of a sort that might endanger health through their contaniinati.;-ar(k'iis tliomsulvcs; tli;i( li\iii,L:,' walci', ,i;iiiiu-ini;' in the sunlight and tlie shadow, is ono> oF the most ro freshing', cheerful, lovely elements that can he intrcxhiced into any scene. AYliether it he spring or jet or fountain, ])ictures(|ne cascade of smooth overponring of mill-dam, meandering Iji'ook or ])rim canaT, the essential beauty persists tlironghout; and only the signs ol: hnman contempt, fonl contamination and slovenly siin'oundings, can obscure the natural beauty of water in the o])en air. A thing that strikes the easterner unaccustomed to the irrigating ditch, is that however neglected and ignored snch a ditch ma}' he as to its banks and surroundings there is something about it rad- ically different from the ditches he is familiar with at home; a something that makes it far more attractive, more suggestive of pleasant possibilities. The feeling is hard to analyze, but it arises, perhaps, mahdy from two causes. First, the water of the ditches is relatively clean and sparkling; and second, it is elevated close to the level of the adjacent ground, or even above it, thus catching the sunlight and holding the eye, and expressing the fact that it is cared for and conveyed as a thing of value destined for human use, instead of being sunk in a drainage ditch as far below the surface as possible, rejected and considered only as something to be got rid of quickly and com])letely. If the in- herent beauty of the water of the irrigating channels were sup- plemented by such treatment of their immediate borders as would remove the unpleasant associations that now in many places attach to them, such treatment as would bring out and enhance the natural associations of refreshment and abundance that are in- separable from them and would re-enforce their intrinsic charm, these channels alone would serve to make Boulder a place of high civic beauty. If only ])eople could be got to realize that while they are looking for beauty in things which' have no use except for dec- AN AESTHETIC orativc purposes, the highest pos- PREDICAMENT sible beauty is to be found nine times out of ten in the most utilitarian things when ])erfected and treated as worthy of respect and loving care, they would bo saved 75 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION a vast deal of extravagant and foolish expenditure Avliieh now leads to confusion, disharmony and ugliness though made in the vain liope of achieving beauty. It is the peculiar difficulty of such an awakening to the value of beauty in the scheme of life as is now being manifested all over our country, that people whose interest has been largely concentrated upon utilitarian things from the commercial standpoint are apt, when they do awaken to the value of beauty and set to work to get their share of the enjoyment of it, to look anywhere else for it rather than in the familiar things which they have always regarded as of commercial or practical interest only, not at all realizing that the lack of beauty or thel positive ugliness of these things is due solely to the misshaping of them by their own narrow commercialism and that of others like them. "We trust the good people of Boulder will pardon us for this preachment. The}^ are no worse sinners than most of us in this great, prosperous, well-meaning nation, where opportunities are so numerous that we spend all our energies trying to grasp more of them than we can hold and so have no time left in wliieh really to live. It is merely that a person is more vividly struck by examples of foolish Avaste of a kind new to him than by those to M'liich he has Ijecome accustomed; so when Boulder is visited by an eastern stranger who has an eye for beauty and some acquain- tance with the use to which water is put in the gardens and cities of older countries lie cannot fail to be strikingly impressed with the neglect of what seems to him an extraordinary opportunity for civic beauty. There are several canals in which the city has a shareholder's interest in addition to its powers of genera] control, and along HOW TO GET PARK VALUE ^^^^ ^'^^^^^^ ^^ "^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ FROM THE DITCHES has a right-of-wa}'. Many indeed are Avithin the limits of streets or pul:)lic alleys, already adequate in width or capable of being widened at slight expense so as to pro- vide the essential elements for the public enjoyment of the oppor- tunity Avhich the waterway presents. What are those essentials? 76 THE FRED'ERICK LAW OL^ISTED JR. REPORT First, convenient pro\ision for the ])iil)]i(' to pass or to stop \vlio]'e it can enjo^- the opportunit}^ This may mean no more than the roadway and sidewalks of a street within wliich the waterway occurs, or even a hridge carrying some street over a waterway in sncli a manner that those crossing it can get a pleas- ant view over a rail or parapet designed to present the view to the hest advantage. Or it may mean a special path running along near the water Avith occasional benches at the more inviting spots; and from tliat anything up to summer-houses and refresh- ment booths and concert groves along the banks of waterways, with all of the incidental provisions for public comfort and con- venience that attend upon public parks. The only vital thing in this regard is that convenient, safe and decent provision be made in some manner for the coming and going and pausing of the people where they can enjoy the beauty that is offered. Civic beauty is worthless, even if it can be said to exist at all, where it is not seen and enjoyed by the people. Second, offensive, foul and ugly things, where they come into view, should be done away with, made over, or obscured by foli- age or otherwise, so far as possible; a general impression that the place is regarded by someone as worth caring for, as expressed by the fact that it is always swept and garnished, has a great deal to do with the extent to which others will care for it and be able to appreciate it. Third, agreeable scenes and compositions should be noted and enhanced, or created, mainly by such control of light and shade and of enclosing and framing masses as can readily be effected through conti-olling the disposition of the foliage of trees and buslies. Along many of the ditches that run through alleys or on private rights-of-way there are many trees and bushes already present in combination with the water and the sky very pretty scenes and which need only to be supplemented by a good path and a few benches and an impression of good order and so- licitous appreciation to become ready-made park spots of the highest value. In many other places judicious removals and a very moderate amount of supplementary planting would soon 77 BOULDER CITY niPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION bring similar results. In otbcr places the foliage element is still to be su])])lie(l by planting. Fourth, in places a certain amount of manipulation of the edges of the channel or of the adjacent surface of the ground may be called for in order to harmonize these elements with the gen- eral effect of the scene of which they form a part. Fortunately the volume of water is comparatively constant and its surface is normally but little below the level of the banks, so that the chan- nels Just as they now are give that ever-delightful impression of brimming abundance and of intimacy of relation Ijetween the sur- face of the water and that of the ground. Generally speaking, the more closely on a level they can be and the more intimate their relation the bappier mil be the result. Where the general impression of the scene is one of formality, of conspicuous reg- ularity of order in its dominant features, the margin of the water may need some rectification to bring it into harmony with this impression; where the general effect is notably picturesque and informal it may be that some inharmoniously formal lines in the canal could be to advantage modified or obscured; not infrequent- ly, especially where a path comes next to the ditch, it may be desirable to introduce a simple curbing or a piece of wall (mostly below the water level) to hold the earth from crumbling or slump- ing. But generally speaking it is better to avoid the use of walls or banks which would have the effect of depressing the water below the adjacent ground l)y more than a very small fraction of the width of tlie stream. If this mistake is avoided the water will be all right anyhow, and it will bo just as well to do nothing to its margin except what is really needed as a practical matter for the proper maintenance of the ditch. In the case of the little ditches that ruii along in the parking of so many of the streets in the easterly part of the town, the boards which form their sides rise just to the level of the ground and are generally overhung with grass that gets a delightful, fresh richness from the water. The effect is charming and it would seem a pity to substitute a conspicuous and rigidly formal curbing either of concrete or stone and the substitution of a perfectly smooth bottom for one made of 78 THE FRED'ERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT rough nobl)''Jstonc.s takes out an t'lcmcut of interest and heauty Tor no sufficient reason, for tlie sparkle and dance of the water as it runs over tlie cobbles is ]:)art of its life and c liarni. The boards must give w-ax for sonietliing more })ei'niauent, certainly, because their maintenance is troublesome and expensive. But why not substitute for theni thin slabs of local sandstone of irregulai' lengths set at the same lieight as the ])resejit edgings so that the grass A^'ill overgrow thein somewhat as it now does the plank? And why not use the same old cobble i)avcment for the bottom? Of tlie large]- \vater\\-ays the Beasley Ditch was the onlv one of which, we nuide a complete examination throughout its length within the city. AVith the possible BEASLEY DITCH exception of one or two short pas- sages we found that it would be possible to convert this ditch and its margins into a very attractive public promenade at surprisingly small expense. From 12th Street to 19th Street, for example, it runs mostly through a public alley not used as a thoroughfare for other purposes, and by the acquisition of a few bits of vacant land, the opening of a good path, and a small amount of thinning and planting, the thing Avould be done; while Just north of 21st Street the ditch passes through or borders a piece of land excel- lently adapted for local park purposes and can be made to add much to its park value if acquired. It is however, useless to dis- cuss these possibilities in detail in view of the proposition since called to our attention for a great increase in the capacity of the Beasley Ditch. This will involve, of course, an entire change of conditions all along the route and radical changes in many streets. The matter should be taken up by the city and the pro- moters of the project in a spirit of intelligent co-operation and a well-conceived plan should be adopted that will take into account the hydraulic requirements, the result upon the street system, and the opportunities for public recreation afforded by the banks of the canal if properly utilized. One suggestion which we were prepared to offer in any COUNTY ROAD BOULEVARD +11 • , case a])pears stnl more appropruite in view of the probable changes in the Beasley Ditch. It is that in widening the County Eoad and extending it north from Pearl 79 BOULDER CITY niPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION street past the east end of Lovers' Hill as a great^ cross-town thoroughfare, the Beasley Ditch, so far as it occupies the line of the street, be treated as a formal ornamental canal or basin run- ning down the center of the boulevard, with a fairly wide border of grass on either hand and flanking rows of trees on the edges of the two roadways that would border this parking. We cannot too urgently point out the facts that on the one hand the eastern part of the city is the region where the topog- NEEDS OF EASTERN PART ''''^^^y "^^"^^^^^ P^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^'^^^'^^*' OF CITY most convenient and most inexpen- sive urban development, where transportation facilities by road- way and by trolley can be most easily and cheaply perfected and extended, and where, by consequence, is likely to occur the prin- cipal development of dwelling places for people of small or mod- erate means, and that on the other hand the continued attract- iveness of this flat region is closely dependent upon the mainte- nance of public open spaces, sufficient to preserve the views of the mountains and to afford the sunny openings with contrasting shady or sheltered promenades which are requisite to the full enjoyment of the climate and which are absolutely unattainable on fifty-foot lots occupying level ground. The need has not yet been strongly felt, partly because there are so many vacant lots scattered among those already occupied or at least within easy reach, and partly because people have not thought much about the basic physical advantages which make Boulder a better place to live in than other cities of the same size and tax rate. They must think about them and preserve them if they would not kill the goose that lays their golden eggs. The County Eoad boulevard suggested above and the pro- posed parkway along Boulder Creek would be good examples of the sort of thing that is needed, but a considerable number of local parks and squares ought also to be acquired. 80 Parks and Other Public Open Spaces Xot only tlie eastern part of tlic cil}' Init all parts ought to be provided with local pai'ks, some to be used primarily for play- groinids, others mainly or wholly for more sedate recreation, all contributing to the agreeableness of the town. Every home in the city ought to be within about a quarter of a mile of a good pla3'gronnd and of a spot where older people THE PEOPLE AND THE ''"^^ ^^'^^^' ^^^''^^' t'-^^'^'^'i^G or their ease CITY PLAN in the Open air under pleasant sur- roundings and in the preseiice of a fine view or at least of such breadth of sunlighted open space as is wholly beyond the means of most to attain on their own property. The man who can af- ford to o\ni a couple of acres in the outskirts of the city, or one of the liniited number of sites on the commanding eminences near it and who caii pay for the relatively high cost of the roads or streets required to make such sites available, and who can keep a carriage or an automobile to take him back and forth, is able to look out for himself. If he fails to make intelligent use of the opportunities which Boulder jiresents for the enjoyment of life, it is due mainly to his own lack of appreciation and initiative. But for the majority of people, whose means are limited, who have neither the financial strength nor the physical strength and mental aggressiveness that Avould enable them to seize for their own exclusive use the means of enjoying adequately those precious commodities, air and sunlight, and that subtle promoter of health and cheerfulness, the sense of spaciousness and freedom — for these, the great body of the citizens, a co-operative, democratic method of attaining these ends must be sought. The standard house lot in Boulder appears to be 50 feet wide by about 150 feet deep, although a tendency is apparent through the uncontrolled operation of supply BACK YARDS VS. PARKS .^^^^^ ^|^^^^^^^^^| ^^ ^.^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^-^^ ^f lots as well as the width of streets. To reduce the depth of the lots from 150 to 125 feet would mean, even if there were no cor- BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION responding reduction in width, that l-(i of the usable ground after substracting streets woukl he left over. If this amount ot space were set apart for joint use in the form of playgrounds, sc[uares, and local parks it would mean that every half mile square of the city would liave not less than 16 to 20 acres of public grounds. Xo one who considers this proposition for a moment can doubt that the average householder with a 150-foot lot is in no such enviable position, with his extra 25 feet at the back end of his back yard, all shut in by other ^^eople's houses, as he woukl be Avitb a lot measuring 50 x 125 feet and the use of a big, safe playground for his children within less tlian a quarter of a mile of his house and the use of pleasant parks and squares close at hand on every side of a size sufficient to com- mand the beautiful views which he is now unable to see to ad- vantage unless he goes entirely outside of the built-up city. The point is worth pausing over a moment. A given tract of land half a mile square, provided with streets occupying a third of tlie total area will subdivide in DEEP LOTS AND NO PARKS (-^^c) lots of tlie standard Boulder size of 50 X 150 feet. In such a district, when the lots are all occu- pied, there will be no playgrounds for the children except the streets and the cramped back yards, there will l)e no parks or squares or other open ground whatever, no views of mountain or plain except an occasional glimpse between the chimney pots. If on the same tract, with the same area in streets the same number SHALLOWER LOTS PLUS °^' ^^<^"^^« '^'^'^^*^^ ^^^ ^^^^*^*^^ ""'^ '^°^' PARKS 50 by 125 feet in size, there would be left over 17.7 acres for purposes of public recreation. This would be more than enough, if well arranged, to assure for all time that every boy and young man who will ever live in that district shall have opportunit}' and inducement near his own home to play baseball and all the other vigorous outdoor games that make for a sound body, a clean mind and a healthy nervous sys- tem^ that space could be set apart for a swimming pool to be put in operation whenever the neighborhood or the city might feel disjiosed to pay for constinicting it and suj^plying the water; that 82 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT tlio little chiMrcMi could have a slialloAV pool of their own with a clean, sandy beach and bottom where thc)' could wade and play with toy boats and make sand pies and forts as well as if they were to be taken tlunisands of miles to the ocean l)each itself; that for all time thc dwellers in that district would have only to walk two or three blocks or so to find a pleasant o]ien spot with shady jiaths and l)enches for summer nsc, looking out npon a cheerful prospect, with sheltered sunny nooks and covered benches for the season when cold or driving- wind makes walking in the streets unpleasant and tends to keep thc people closely housed. Again we say that no sane man can doubt thc advantages of the latter method of subdivision, with its slightly smaller lots supplemented bv parks, if be will take note of the trifling addi- tional use which thc average householder derives from the deeper lots of the old part of the town as compared with the shallower lots in other localities. That the average householder is reason- LOTS ARE GETTING '^^^^-^ ^^^^^ content with the shallower SHALLOWER lot, even Avhere he gets no parks at all in compensation, is proved by the fact that he does not hesitate to buy the shallower lots. He is evidently not seriously influ- enced in selecting his abode by the fact that lots in the University Terrace Subdivision are nearly 20 per cent, shallower than the lots in East Boulder. l)ut it the lots ai'c being made shallower why does thc house- holder get no benefit of the saving in the form of piddic recrea- BUT NO PARKS ARE MADE ^'^^^ grounds? Simply because he FROM THE SAVINGS docs not insist that his agent and representative, the City Government, shall look out for his obvi- ous interests in due season, and make the laying out of a reason- able percentage of public recreation groiind as much a matter of course in thc acceptance of a new subdivision as the laying out of streets. They should both be regarded as conditions precedent to the city's furnishing the means for exploiting the land into building lots by providing water, sewerage, street lighting, polic- ing and other urban advantages. The burden of the cost of set- ting apart such local recreation grounds should normally fall 83 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION upon the districts particularly benefited. It may fairly be placed npon the land-owners; who have the option of reeonping them- selves for the A'alue of the land thus devoted to neighborhood uses either by dividing their remaining land into smaller lots, made acceptable by the presence of the parks and playgrounds, or by charging higher prices for the standard size of lot, the choice de- pending on the demands of the market. Under the jiresent system the lots are being made smaller, but the space thus saved is used not for parks but only for more lots; to the manifest detriment of the conditions of life in the city; and to whose benefit? Not to the land-owners as a Avliole, certainly; for since the condition of the individual householder is plainly less satisfactory WHO BENEFITS FROM ''''^^' ^^'^ ^''''^^''' ^""^^ ^^^ ''''^^'''''^ ILLIBERAL SUBDIVISIONS? the local parks, it simply means that the demand for lots in Boulder will be less keen than would other- wise be the case and the value per lot will average lower; which is only another way of saying that the land value per family of residents will be less, or th.at the total land value of the city per thousand of population will be less. Incidentally its growth will be slower because of its lesser attractiveness. With a slower growth of population and a lower total of land values per thou- sand of population it is obvious that the less attractive method of development into which Boulder is now drifting tends to retard the growth of the total land values in geometric ratio. AVho does benefit? No process goes on actively under the pressure of uncon- trolled commercial motives unless somebody sees a profit in it. The immediate and obvious results of curtailing at every possible point the amount of city land used per family, in lot and HOW THE PRESENT SYSTEM ^^^"^^^ ^^^^^^ P^^'^^ •''^'^ otherwise, is to WORKS make a city more compact, to make it spread more slowh-, and to concentrate the population, and therefore the total land values Avhich arise from the demand for THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT housing spacCj upon a more linulod area. If tlio owner of a tract of untie vcloped land on the immediate outskirts of the eit^-'s growth; by means of laj'ing out as narrow streets and as small lots as he is able to market, and by means of omitting from his subdivision aiiy squares or parks or other provision for public recreation, can su(rceed in concentrating upon his land say 5 per cent, of the city's total growth in population during the succeed- ing decade, together Avith a correspondingly large share in the city's total increment in land values during the same period, and if he can sell out and realize upon this increment, it is obvious he is better off. commercially, than if a more enlightened pul)lic policy controlling the method of subdivision had led to a 25 per cent, greater increase in the city's total land values but prevented him from gobbling more than 3 per cent, of it. In other words, under tlie present happy-go-lucky method of commercial exploitation of the increment in land values, the fev\^ AN UNCONTROLLED l^'^^P^^ ^^'^'° happen, by chance or MONOPOLY foresight, to be possessed at any given time of Die lands on the edge of urban growth are prac- tically permitted to establish an undesirable density of urban development at their own discretion and for their own immediate financial benefit, at the direct expense of all the other land-owners in the city, who would of course be the gainers by a more widely diffused increment. There is nothing essentially unfair in the game of land spec- ulation, and the biggest profits in the long run go to the shrewd- LAND SPECULATION A FAIR ^^^ and most expert players; the val- GAIVIE FOR THE PLAYERS ues of undeveloped land on the out- skirts of a city are market values which take into account the chances each piece offers for scooping some of the "unearned increment;'' so that there is, perhaps, no great need to worry over the fact that the present system enables the skillful players to make a profit at the expense of those who are so unfortunate as to be holding property that lies either outside of the zone of sharply rising prices or inside of that zone in the district of improved property and relatively stable values. 85 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION But it is mauii'estly to the disadvantage of tlie coinmunit^v at large, to tlie majority of land-owiiers in tlie long run, and BUT THE PUBLIC SUFFERS ^^"ipl^'^ticallv to every wage-earner IN THE END and every family dependent u})on a salary or upon an income derived from ]ion-spectilative invest- ments, tliat the player? of the game of land speculation, interesting and legitimate though it be, should Ije permitted to inake the city less pleasant, convenient and healthful to live in, and of a slower growth and smaller total valuation than it can perfectly well be made if the community simply insists on such a provision of streets and such a ju-ovision of ^lublic recreation grounds and such other arrangements as will give the best practicable results from the point of view of those who have got to live in the city after it is built. ^Ve are not here concerned with any socialistic proj- ects for approi^riating the "unearned increment'' tn the people. As we have previously pointed out the total land values, and therefore tlie total '"unearned increment'' passing into the hands of land-owners, v.'ould be larger in case there were an adequate allowance of park area than without it. What we are concerned THE PUBLIC MUST PROTECT ^^'ith is such action l)y the community ITSELF AND THE LIBERAL -ig ^vill result in the invariable set- LAND OWNERS BY CONTROL- ^. . ,. ., i • ii LING THE CHARACTER OF tmg apart ot the desirable propor- SUBDIVISIONS tion of public open spaces as a necessaiy incident of the subdivision of land and thus remove the pi'essure under which an illiberal and short- sighted 2^olic'y is forced, as a ])lain matter of business, upon the promoters who now determine the layout of subdivisions. It is possible that such action might tend to reduce the purely speculative profit in putting lots upon the market, and it might be expected to arouse opposition from those who are, or who think they are, partienlarly skillful in the speculative game: but for the main body of real estate owners as well as for all the rest of the community such action Avould be distinctly advantageous. What does such a public policy involve? Briefly, that in or for every neighborhood or district which is subdivided and added 86 THE FRED'ERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT to tlie city a certain inininniin per ccMitagc sliall l)c set apart for |ml)lic recreation grounds. What tliis niiniimiiii sliouM l)e we will discnss later. The method of setting it apart, in the case of a considerable subdivision, or district under a single ownership would normally be dedication, as in the case of streets; but in the case of a subdivision owned by a number of different parties the city might have to purchase or condemn the necessary tracts and assess the cost of them upon the whole district benefitted. In districts already fully subdivided and largely occupied a sim- ilar method may be followed except that since the whole city is short of local })arks it would be fair to charge a part or the whole of the cost in such cases to the general fund. As to the selection of the areas to be set apart for local park purposes, it is of prime importance that they should be SELECTION OF LOCAL equitaldy distributed, and preferably PARK AREAS SO that no neighborhood will be more than about a (piarter of a mile from the areas that serve it. AVith the exception of certain special sites to l)e mentioned later which have peculiar advantages for certain j^ark purposes, the chief ]3oints to be considered in selecting land for local parks are cheapness, and accessibility to t\w people who Avill use them. The best plan, always assuming the necessary funds to be avail- able, is first to decide upon the general locality within which the local park is needed, to examine carefully the assessed valuations of property within the locality and to select (tentatively) one or more sites which seem promising as to location and cheapness. The second step is for the commission to obtain options on such of the lands within the limits of the tentative site or sites as can be ]nit under favorable options. The third step is to ask publicly for the tender of any lands within the locality for park purposes and to hold ])ul)lic hearings thereon; and the final step is. in the light ol' all the information thus secured, to select defi- nitely the site and boundaries of the park or playgrouiul and take the land bv condemnation proceedings. The land taken wiU ordinarily consist in whole or in part of tracts upon which the commission has obtained options or public tenders of sale at 7'ea- 87 BOULDER CITY niPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION sonable prices and for such lands it can settle at once at the agreed price, v.hile the price of other lots required to secure proper boundaries Avill be determined under condemnation pro- ceedings either l)_y agreement or before a jury. It is far better to i^roceed in this Avay than to buy or accept certain pieces of land, no matter how favorable the terms may be, and subsequently acquire adjacent pieces for the rectification of boundaries or com- pletion of the requisite area; because the ver)^ establishment of a park renders the adjacent land more valuable at once, and if the city buys park land piecemeal it has to pa}^ in the later pur- chases an increased price due simply to its having previously started to establish a park in the neighborhood. The condem- nation process, preceded by obtaining options where possible, takes all the land at one and the same instant and at the value of land in a district which has no parks. As to the proportionate extent of local parks, we have seen that the reduction of lot depths from 150 to 125 feet and the use ^^^^1^.^ QP LOCAL PARK ^^ ^^^*^ ^^^^^"^"^ ^'^^'^ saved out of the lots AREAS for parks and squares would give 10 to 12 per cent, of the total city area in local parks (depending upon the ju'oportion of the total area occupied by streets.) Five per cent, has been considered a reasonable minimum allowance in some large cities^ but no positive rule can be laid doAvn. Perhaps as much as Ave can say is that less than 5 per cent, is generally inadequate and that much more than 15 per cent, in small local parks, except under peculiar circumstances, is apt to imply a need- lessly dispersed, and therefore costly, urban development. Since in general the selection of local park lands should be determined mainly by considerations of price it is inexpedient for us to make any definite recommend- SPECIFIC PARK SITES ^^^^^^^ except in case of certain sites l^ossessing peculiar advantages for park purposes in proportion to their apparent market value as real estate. Of these, Ave have referred to three pieces in connection with the discussion of AA'aterAvays. One is the vacant land on the south side of Boulder Creek just east of the 12th Street lots, and another is the vacant 88 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT meadow lying Letween the creek and tlie Liiieolii School. JJoth of these are valuahle for landsea])e j>iirjio.-ch and as playgi-ouiids and they are well distributed. The third is the west half of the block lying between Nine- teenth Street and the line of Twenty-First Street. This piece is traversed and bordered by the Beasley Ditch, and the water, with the trees that occupy its l)anks in part, gives a good start toward making a pleasant little park. If the three inexpensive houses on Water Street south of the ditch are acquired it would be pos- sible to form an open playground of more than two acres in extent, surrounded by a shady walk along the ditch and along the sur- rounding streets. Avith an existing grove at the northwest corner and a small separate playground for little children in the space between the ditch and Nineteenth Street. Even if the house lots on Nineteenth and ^Vater Street were omitted the vacant land alone would make a good though very limited local park. Ajjart from the park value which attaches to the water of the Beasley Ditch and to the grove of trees, the chief advantage of this tract is that it is the nearest considerable piece of vacant land to the High School and the Jefferson School. It is within a short couple of blocks of those two schools, which are urgently in need of playground space. In connection Avith Boulder Creek we have called attention to the importance of preserving public access east of Seventeenth Street to the edge of the hluff that LOVERS' HILL ^-^.^^^j.^ ^1^^ g^^^^l^ ^-^-^^ ^f ^1^^ ^^^^ and commands such fine views over the city. North of the valley a similar sitmition is presented by Lovers' Hill. This mesa, if it is proper so to call it, is divided into a western and an eastern part by a notch, through which Twentieth Street makes its twisting way. The eastern part has one house upon its southern edge, reached by a rather precipitous approach from the south. The western part, though platted (on paper) into streets and lots, is wholly vacant and is being slowly eaten away from the northwest by the brick M'orks situated at its base. To those citizens of Boulder who are not familiar with the BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION y'lLW we urgently locommend a stroll, some pleasant Sunday, along the top of Lovers" Hill, both parts, from Fourteenth Street to the County Eoad iiear Twenty-Fifth Street. The vie\y, especially toward sunset time, is one that cannot he matched in man}' thou- sand miles of traveling. I'he situation is a delightful one for dwellings Avere it not for the difficulty of access and the entire absence of trees, which renders it bleak and unsheltered both in appearance and in fact cxcejit in the ]")leasantc^it of weather. Of the two possible nu^hods which have occin-red to us for utilizing the recreative value of this hill one ])r()vidcs for developing also the opportunity which it pre- sents for building sites. Starting from Thirteenth Street, we advise widening High Street on the vacant north side, so as to make it at least the equal of the old streets in liberality, and park- ing it and planting it with trees. p]ast of Fourteenth High Street now A'anislies into nothing up the steep hillside. A parkway in continuatio]"! of High Street should be carried through, in a cut, on a reasonably easy rising grade, until it reaches the surf^ice of the mesa at its southerly edge. It should follow this edge api)roxiniately. on a curving line working off in an easterly and northeasterly direction at the level of the flat top surface of the hill tit a ])oint whence it could descend again by a reasonable grade, mainly in cut and crossing to the north side of the ridge, soi as to meet the grade of TAventieth Street where the latter goes through the saddle between the west and east ]iarts of the hill. Thence the parkway would rise again on a line just north of the present city lioundary and again woidd skirt the southerly escarp- ment of the hill on curving lines to a point from which it could descend by an easy grade to join the County Eoad just as it crosses the easterly tail of the hill. "Wherever it is not encroached upon l)y houses — and those points are fortunately few — the steep hillside below this proposed parkway should be acquired and kept permanently open to protect the view. The market value of the land in question is relatively trifling because it is for the most part too steep to Imild on and most of it is rather inaccessible. The parkway itself would con- sist of a drive of moderate width, say thirty feet, and on the THE FRED'ERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT soutlierly side of it. fommaiulinj^- ilio view, a hi'oad pi'oiiKMiade or gathering place, with benches, tlie whole beijig shaded by rather closely planted trees forming a long and somewliat wind- ing or irregnlar grove rather than mere rows as in a street. The })ronienade or grove ^wonld yiwy somewhat in widtii. accoj'ding to the shape of the hill, from a mininnun of twelve or fifteen feet n}» to perhai)s fifty or seventy-five feet aiid wcnild sometimes be on the same level as the drive and sometimes a little below it. The water rcqnired for in-igation of the trees wonld be delivered on each jiai't ol' the hill from a simple fountain which might in one case foi-ni the central feature of a concert gro\'e where the band could play occasionally on summer evenings, a time when this promenade Avould be peculiarly attractive because of catching every breeze that stirs across the city. The level land of the hilltop north of the parkway might bo left in whole or in part available for building sites fronting on the parkway. In this case the increased value of the land as a result of the opening of such a parkway would offset a respect- able share of the cost of land and construction. But it would be very much finer if the whole top of the narrow ridge could be kept forever open as a place of public recreation, commanding the views to the north and northwest as well as those to the south and southwest. It is to be noted that the northern part of the hill is perhaps more valuable at the present time as a source of brick clay than for any other purpose, and that it would probably be very costly to make an adverse taking which would interfere "with the estab- lished brick industry dependent on the use of the hill. If, how- ever, the city should decide on the parkway and establish the grades thereof an advantageous co-operation Avith the brick works might be brought about, permitting them to remove the surplus material down to the grade of the parkway where it is in heavy cut at the north end with little or no expense to the city, and then permitting them to excavate to an indefinite extent along the north side of the parlcway, provided enough material were left to support it at the established grade. If this were done the parkway in this section would be a peculiar and interesting civic 91 BOULDER CITY niPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION feature, a driveway and grove accessible on easy grades but stand- ing isolated at a level above the roofs of the city, over which it would look both north and south to the mountains. It is imjDortant that some decision should be reached soon for while it would be equally convenient for the brick works to adjust their excavations to the plan of a high level parkway, they are not unlikel}', in the absence of such a plan, to excavate that portion of the ridge over Avhich the parkway sliould run, thus cornj^licating or wholly blocking the project. Another point of some topographical interest for park pur- poses is the basin-like valley round which the Farmers' Ditch VALLEY IN NEWLAND'S ^"'^^^^'"^ '^ ^'^^"8° ^°°P "^ ^^^^ Xcwlauds ADDITION Addition. It is true that the soil is a wretched, stiff, alkaline shale, very ill-adapted for the growth of park vegetation, soggy, wet, cold and undrained, a most un- promising field from a horticultural standpoint. Xevertheless would we gladly see a park established there, for the form of the ground, within the boundaries marked by the Farmers' Ditch and Ninth Street and First Avenue, is from the artist's point of view most admirable, and the way it lies in relation to the views of the foothills gives opportunity for the development of a beautiful landscape of a type nowhere else to be found in Boul- der and nowhere else in the city possible of creation in so perfect a form. We should hesitate to cast our opinion against that of Mr. Andrews, who has condemned this site for cultural reasons; indeed we have admitted that the soil is wretched; but unless the case is rendered hopeless by factors of which we are left in ignorance by our superficial examination we should think it possible to re- deem the soil sufficiently by thorough underdrainage and irri- gation. This process might cost, at a guess, say $1,000 an acre. For park purposes the land, on account of its topography, is cer- tainly more than $1,000 an acre in advance of the value of any other vacant land in the northwesterly quarter of the city, and at the same time its low, wet situation must make it much less val- uable for most other purposes. 92 Chautauqua Grounds The cit}' has an interesting and valuable institution in tlie Chautauqua grounds and buildings and one wliich ouglit to be- come increasingly useful as time goes on. It is a sort of insti- tution that may be expected both to grow and to alter in char- acter a good deal from decade to decade as new conditions and new opportunities of usefulness arise, and it seems to us peculiarly a case where rigorous adherence to a predetermined plan of devel- opment is ahnost out of the question, and where it is wise, con- trary to the principle which should ordinarily be followed in public works, to treat much of the improvements as frankly temporary, making tlie first cost low even at the expense of higher main- tenance charges. This has been the policy in regard to much of the work done hitherto and we mention the point only because this is one of the rare cases in which such a temporizing policy has anything to commend it. We do not mean for a moment to suggest that it is not desirable or even necessary to have a plan cf develo])ment and to work to that plan. Xothing but confu- sion and waste can result from proceeding without a programme of well defined aims. But we do mean to suggest that this is peculiarly a case where a comprehensive plan cannot be drawn up once for all and then carried out piece by piece literally and me- chanically just as drawn. If this were attempted some new con- dition Avould soon turn up for which the plan made no provision and something would have to be done contrary to the plan, or at least something not provided for therein. After a few such occur- rences the plan would appear hopelessl}'^ out of date and would soon be disregarded. The only wise procedure is to keep the gen- eral plan alive and up to date every year by revising it to meet new conditions as fast as they arise. That is to say, wdien there appears to be good reason for doing something contrary to the ]ilan, the conditions ought to be scpiarely faced and an attempt made to see just how such a change would affect other features of the plan considered as a consistent whole. If the changes still seem wise, the plan' should be changed first and the work then continued in accordance with the up to date plan. Obvi- 93 liOL'LDER CITY niPROVEMEXT ASSOCIATIOX misly siu-li c-lumges and adniitationjs can l)o more iinderstaiidingly made l)y the man rcsponsiMe for the plan tlian hy anyone else. We make these explanations heeause this is an imptn-taur question of general policy and also heeause we were consulted ahout the desirahility of departing from the general plan pre- l)are(| hy ^\v. I'arce. It is a good plan and the work already done under it is interesting and very attractive; we strongly advise against departing from it; but we do think that ]\[r. Parce and the (Commission might consider whether it would ]iot Ije wise to modify it at certain points. For one thing it struck us that it would be an agreeable addition to ]dant a considerable number of trees on the terrace of the Auditorium with a view to providing shade and verdure close to the building aiid at the ])oinL com- manding the best vieAv. As it is desirable not to blanket the Inulding entirely, these trees ought to Ite low and spreading, f(n'm- ing a sort of canopy or awning about the base of the building. AVe had in mind the treatment often adopted in such sitmitions in European countries, where it is common to use sycamore trees (Platanus orientalis) for this purpose. They are planted pi'etty closely, even as close as 15 or 20 feet apart, their side branches are pruned so as to give clean, straight stems about 10 or 12 feet tall and at that level the branches are allowed to spread but the top of the tree is headed back by persistent annual pruning so as to prevent it from getting more than 15 or 18 feet tall alto- gether. Often the young branches that push up above the stand- ard level are bent down and forced to grow horizontally l>y tying them down to light poles extending from tree to tree. With a little patience and persistence a living arbor can be formed in this way that would give shade without checking the lireeze and greatly enhance the attractiveness of such a terrace as that of tlie Chautauqua Auditorium. Another point to be considered is whether in the long run the sacrifice of a good part of the view from this terrace will not be too great a price to pay for the advantage of having a grove at the particular point below the terrace where trees have been planted. A third point to be considered is as to the area north of the .94 THE FREDERICK LAW OL^ISTED JR. REPORT Dining ]l;ill. In view of ilie necossnvih- 1onl;iti\c ;iiiil cxpci-i- niental (levcl()])iiu'iu of llu' grounds we ([iir^liuji whcllicr lln' hii'ge oval loiTju-i' lor leunis c'()iirl> is (|iiiU' justiriablr. Il is a rather large niulertaking that nul^t liu piii tiii'ough conipU'lelv at one operalion if the design is not to loolc very unfinished and con- fused, and llie anionnt of grading is I'alliei' lai'ge in jji^oporl ion Id ilie niinilier oL' eourts Avliieli can lie acconmiodaled on an area of this form. Further, the ])ractical necessity oL' t;ill hack-nets for the tennis courts would introduce a very eons|)icuous and iuliar- nuinious f(n'nial element, built on a rectangular jilan to fii the tennis courts and seriously injuring the effect of the oval witii its border of informal shi'uhhery as designed. Bearing in nuud this practical re(piirenient of a formal character aiul the fact that the straight row of buildings to the west of the S])ace aii'cady establishes a souiewhat fmaual treatjucut of that side, and the further fact that the tennis courts must Iuinc a dirt surfaci_^ instead of a turf surface, we are inclined to thiid\ that it would look-more reasonable (and therefore better) to plan for a series of terraces rectangular in plan and suhstantially jiarallel with the row of buildings, each tei'race being just wide enough for one row of courts. The fii-st of these terraces, coming immediately east of the road on which the Dining Hall faces, could ])rohahly he de- pressed enough Ijelow the level of that road to allow the steei) Lank or houhkr wall which would support the latter to serve instead of a Ijack-net on the west side, especially if sTipplemented by a parapet or closed railing along its upper edge. Tliis avouU do awav v\'ith an}' obstruction to the northward view from this road and would enable people to stand or sit ou the road terrace and look down upon the tennis games as from a grandstand. Of course the tennis courts ought to be turned with their long axis approximately north and south so that the afternoon sun will not be in the eyes of either set of players. The first terrace of such a series would accommodate as many courts as the whole oval, with a movement of hardly more than half the quantity of ]na- terial, and the plan is so simple that it woidd not look unreason- able or confused in design to build part of such a terrace, (enough say for two or three courts only) at the first go-off and to extend it later on when the demand and the funds might justify. I'he BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION number oi' courts miglit subsequently be doubled or trebled by adding- otber, lower^ terraces to the eastward. As to the plan for cottages facing toward the Dining Hall and backing upon Park Avenue (the Base Line Eoad), about which we were questioned, we are in some doubt. Unless a reserved space of some width is left between the street and the backs of the cottages and is well planted out, there is a danger that the effect upon the general public and upon those approach- ing the grounds by electric car would not be altogether agreeable; and further uidess some rather heavy grading were done the cot- tages themselves might appear to be rather below the road on which they were facing, or at all events too much below the bank on the uphill side of it. On the whole we are inclined to think it would l)e better to omit this row of cottage sites and use this part of the grouiuls ultimately for such general purposes as tennis and basketball courts, a little children's playground, and general park purposes in which the public entering at the adjacent gate is more interested than in the cottages. The best opportunity for the institution to expand in case of need is westward, and the land belonging to the city in that direction ought to be held with such possible expansion in view. Up the hill to the southwest beyond the reservoir there is a change in the character of the topography and scener}^, and it seems to us of the utmost importance to maintain a pronounced and sharply defined difference in treatment. The Chautauqua grounds ought to be nicelv kept, orderly, trim, thoroughly domesticated in character. If they are expanded from time to time by taking in additional pieces of land, this character of treat- ment should be extended also, but always they should have a w^ell- marked boundary and once across that boundary all domestic niceness of finish and especially all garden-like planting, or lawn- making or decoration — in short all sophistication whatever — should be loft behind. The City Forest In the great tract of unspoiled foot-liill scenery lying above and beyond the Chautauqua grounds Boulder has a priceless pos- session. It may be that only a comparatively small proportion of the citizens have learned to make full use of it. Indeed most of it is as yet so ill-provided Avitli means of access that it is very difficult to reach it at all. But as paths and well planned roads are gradually extended through the tract it will become possible for anyone to traverse in the course of two hours' leisurely walk- ing or driving, as beautiful, wild and refreshing scenery as any that thousands upon thousands of busy, hard-working Americans spend largely of their money and time to enjoy by traveling thou- sands of miles from home. We have little specific advice to offer beyond the caution not to spoil what a bountiful nattire has provided. The qttalities that make such scenery precious are subtle and difficult to analyze. Verdure of a richer quality than these foot-hills have to show may be found in every commonplace suburb in the coun- try; handsomer trees abound throughout at least three-qttarters of the United States; taller and more precipitotts cliffs, deeper chasms, are to be found along the canons of Wall Street and Broadway and in the business districts of other great centers of popttlation throughout the cottntry. But on the foothills of Boulder, beside the intrinsic beauty of color and form and tex- ture in the wonderfully sculptured surfaces of earth, in the rock masses and in the vegetation; beside the impression of spacious- ness and freedom derived from the height of the peaks, the depth of the valleys and the breadth of sweeping outlook over iniles of varied open plain; there is beyond all that, a sense of escape from the tiresome evidences of the httman management of cver}'- thing in sight Avhich pervades all civilized life and especially life in cities. The more higbly civilized our life becomes and tho more skillfully and perfectly all our affairs are managed by humnn agencies, the more we come to value the means of securing occa- sional relief from the insistent pressure of human contact and 97 BOULDER CITY IMPROVE^IENT ASSOCIATION cdiitrol. Tliorei'ore the one |)rinri])lc before all others that should control the management of Boulder's City Forest in the foot-hills, is to avoid every single thing that would obtrude the idea of human control of the scenery, except insofar as is necessary to provide convenient means of making the scenery accessible. Eoads and paths, well planned, on easy grades, to lead people v.'ithout undue effort to tlie most lovely points of view are cer- tainly needed. But they should be so designed as to be as unob- trusive as |)ossible and from the very edge of the traveled way, if possible, Xature should appear to be in full comniand. Some- times to accomplish this end may require more interference with nature at the time of constructing the road or path than the businesslike engineer woidd regard as lu'cessary. The minimum of construction, for example, might leave a raw, stiff, artificial bank of earth beside the traveled way some twenty feet in Avidtli, of such a character that the jirocesses of nature would not subdue it and bring it into harmony with the rest of the hillside for sev- eral generations if unassisted, Avhereas by flattening and modelling the Ijank and merging its edge with the surface beyond, the way might be prepared for nature to repossess the surface in a short time, leaving the traveled way itself as the only conspicuous mark of dominant Imman interference. But very oftc-n in such rough and rocky ground, especially on steep side-hills, a rough wall to support the lower side of the road leaves the least conspicuous mark of luim;in interference beyond the traveled way. and has the great advantage of stopping sharply and not "dril:)bling"" out over the landscape. Other human structures may be needed here and there in time, bridges and shelters for example. But any such things should have two invariable characteristics; unobtrusiveness in design, material and color, depending in detail upon the nature of the immediate background and surroundings; and such per- manence of character that nature can have time to adopt them as her own by the processes of surface Aveathering and the growth of lichens and of larger vegetation upon and about them, long be- fore they are so far decayed as to need renewal. Above all no single thing should ever be done within the limits of the City Forest with a view to decoration, for human THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT decorations are 1)ouik1 to l)e trivial and distractin.^:- if a[>iiliril to nature on this great ^eale. To guard against the del'aeenient of tlie Toothills by lire or !)}• careless private exploitation the area now controlled In' the city ought to be gradually and systematically extended so as to include all of the frontal escarpment directly in view of the city, reaching southward beyond South Boulder Peak and northward to the vicinity of Two ^file C*anon. So much of this land as is still in the hands of the Government ought to be secured as a gift on condition that it be held forever as a public forest. A plan ought to be devised for a system of first-class roads on easy grades leading through the most interesting passages of ^cenery that can thus be made accessible; and then each year as ]niudi road should he built, according to plan, as the city feels ready to pay for. Walking trails, being so much more flexible in location and so much cheaper to build need not be so thor- oughly pilanned in advance. Ijut a certain amount of planning and construction of trails should be done each year as well. One other small improvement of some importance is the establishment of conveniences for picnicing at certain selected points, especially at points where water is available. At these points convenient stone hearths should be prepared so situated and designed as to minimize to the utmost the danger of tho spread of fire, and a supply of firewood should be kept on hand so that every inducement will be offered to the '"beefsteak parties" and to campers to use these points and no others for fires. Stringent rules should then he pniblished agninst the making of fires except at the designated camping places. When we urged above that beyond building necessary roads and structures nothing should he done in the forest that would obtrude the idea of human control, we did not mean to imply that nothing at all sliould be done to it. Protection against fire is an essential, and the utilization and sale of the timber as it ripens to merchantable size is a reasonable and proper use of the forest, ])rovided it be done in a conservative maimer and with due regard to certain special passages of scenery where venerable and even decrepit trees are important elements of scenic value. 99 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Indeed there are thousands of places where the present con- dition of sparse small tree growth, by permitting an unobstructed outlook from road, path or other special vantage point, offers greater enjoyment of scenery than would be the case were the trees to grow to full size and density of stand. The new forest growth is spreading steadily down over the lower slopes and thick- ening above, and throughout a large jiart of the reservation the time will soon be ripe to begin systematic thinnings and cuttings, whether the matter be regarded mainly from the point of view of scenic enjoyment, as we believe it should, or from the stand- point of economic forestry. While we believe that the ordinary considerations of economic forestry should here be secondary, we can see no reason why they should be wholly disregarded; and with the steadily rising price of timber there is no reason why the forest should not, iinder proper management, bring in a small return from timber sales, sufficient, presumably, to pay the expenses of protection and care, so that the city would be bur- dened only with the cost of such improvements as new roads and Trails. Another small source of income which can be utilized to the distinct advantage of the scenery is the grazing privilege. There are a numl)er of tracts, especially on the lower slopes and on the mesas, where persistent grazing, if properly regulated as to amount, will tend to extend and maintain one of the most beau- tiful types of quiet landscape that can, anywhere be found, the park type of landscape in the true sense of that misused word, a type of smooth-ero])ped pastoral land merging into open wood- land with scattered trees and groups of trees and shady groves and open sunny glades intermingling and merging one into the other in a succession of charming picturesque compositions of end- less variety and beauty. It is to be hoped that the people of Boulder will never he beguiled into permitting the establishment upon Flagstaff Moun- tain, or elsewhere in the midst of the Municipal Forest, of a so-called amusement i)ark such as hasi been proposed in connec- tion Avith a project of an inclined railway. This is not because we have any objection to amusement parks as such; we have laid 100 THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED JR. REPORT them out and we fully appreciate the amount of pleasure they can give. xVlso we fully appreciate the fact that if they occupy sites of peculiar natural interest they will draw larger crowds than otherwise; for many are attracted l)y, points of natural interest made easily accessible who would not go out of their way for the ''amusements" alone, although when they are on the spot they are apt to follow the herd and leave their share of nickels behind. Tlie promoters of the shows and the transportation companies gain from this combination and those who go primarily for the sake of the amusements get a mild flavoring of the sauce of scenery along with their salad of varied excitements and amuse- ments. The people who go primarily for the sake of the scenery are apt to be in doubt whether they are the more pleased to have it accessible or the more disgusted to have their attention dis- tracted by so many incongnious sights and sounds. The enjoyment of scenery is a good deal like the enjoyment of music. A great many people, probably the majority of people, are rather pleased to hear music, if it is not too loud or too absorbing, when they are at a gay dinner party and busily engaged in chatting and eating their dinner. It is the habit of some of the vulgar rich to treat the best of opera music in the same way, as a mere sauce to conversation in their boxes. But no one who really enjoys music wants to be distracted from a great per- former's playing by conversation or dinner or a game of billiards or any of a thousand and one things that he might be glad to do at some other time and place. The scenery of Flagstaff Mountain is too noble, too magnifi- cent, too precious, to be wasted in serving as an almost unheeded accompaniment to the fun of roller coasters, moving pictures and vaiideville shows. There are dozens of places near Boulder where a pretty and attractive amusement park could be laid out and provided with transportation facilities at less expense than on Flagstaff Mountain and where it would draw just about as big a crowd and give just about as much ]:)leasure, whereas an amuse- ment park on Flagstaff Mountain woidd to a great extent ruin the highest value possessed by the whole City Forest, namely, that 101 BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION when you get into it you pass into a different world from the city, into a place of quiet mountain sceneiy, remote and vast, ■\vliere the weary can find peace. Public Buildings Tlie matter ot: piil^lie Luiklings and their location is one to which, in onr brief study of the city, we did not give the attention which the subject deserves. But we could not help noticing that the present arrangements for the City Hall and other city offices are a makeshift, neither coiivenient nor by any means worthy of the community. It goes without saying that it is desirable, within reasonable limits, to group together the main public buildings of a city, both as a matter of convenience and for the sake of appearance, and when one examines the opportunity of making such a grouping in Boulder he is confronted with two alternatives. The City has a distinct center in Court House Square and the thought natur- ally suggests itself that the principal public buildings ought to be grouped around this square. But since the sides of the square are already occupied by private property of considerable value a good deal of expense wotild be involved in such an improvement and one looks, as an alternative, for some cheaper property where a new center could be formed. The Pearl Street frontage on Court House S([uare is part of the principal shojDping street, and apart from the expense of acquiring the property for public buildings there is a strong objec- tion, for general commercial reasons, to the complete interrup- tion of the continuity of stores along such a shopping street. We may therefore dismiss the Pearl Street frontage as a site for public buildings. On the Thirteenth Street frontage the new hotel has just been erected, a quasi-public building of the sort that can very properly form part of a civic center. It is to be carefully considered whether the remainder of the Thirteenth Street frontage and the frontage on Spruce and Fourteenth Streets cannot reasonably be utilized for public buildings. The price of such sites, taking into account land and buildings, would be relativclv high, bttt the advantage of facing Court House Square, the great convenience of such a grouping in so central a locality, and the architectural effect made possible, would be worth paying a good price for. BOULDER CITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Conditions do not seem to favor starting a new center. The nearest locality M'here a sufficiently large block of land to make a really good group could be secured at a low price is toward Boulder Creek, and apart from the prejudice against a low site and one which is now in such unattractive condition, this is objectionable because of its being separated from the business center of the town by the railroad. Fine isolated sites for public buildings or monuments are to be found at the northerly ends of several streets where they terminate against Lovers' Hill, and in planning and acquiring tlie proposed parkwa}' along that hill it would be well to secure public control of these strategic points, which can so readily be used for striking features at the termini of the several street vistas. The opportunity is particularly good! at the ends of Fourteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth (if we remember correctly) and Twenty-Third Streets. A glance northward on Fifteenth Street, the vista of which is closed by a small private house, will suggest the value of a proper architectural treatment of these sites and the desirability of getting them into public possession. 104 Control Over Private Property This report has already drawn itself out to such length that Ave mnst not further extend it by entering upon a general dis- cussion of the pregnant subject of the control Avhich may rea- sonably and wisely be exerted by the municipality over the free- dom of the individual to use his property according to his per- sonal pleasure without regard to the interests and wishes of his neio-hbors. AVe cannot, however, forbear to touch upon one point, the matter of billboards and display advertising. Xo one can ques- tion that the presence of large and THE BILLBOARD NUISANCE f,equently garish advertising signs, designed specifically to stand out strikingly from their surround- ings and violently arrest the attention, is more or less irritating and annoying to most people and tends to make the city less agreeable in appearance. Not infrequently an acceptable piece of information is conveyed to the mind, especiallv in the case of posters announcing some entertainment or other passing event, but it is very seldom that the ordinary citizen gets any advantage from the signs and posters that compensates him for the annoy- ance. It is clearly a case where the privilege of the abutter upon a public highway to see and to be seen by the passing public is liable to abuse, and frequently is abused to the detriment of the general public which pays for maintaining the street. When the abuse goes so far as to give indubitable offense to public morals or health through the nature of the advertisement or through the erection of a shield Avhich invites the commission of nuisances by others; or when the abuse goes so far as to cause serious risk of life, limb or property through the maintenance of structurally dangerous or inflammable billboards; then the courts will protect a complainant under the law of nuisance, if anybody is willing to take the trouble to go to law about a matter which is everybody's business and therefore nobody's business. In our easy-going American way most of iis hate to take an unpleasant initiative, or to risk getting the reputation of being fault-finding busy-bodies; 105 BOULDER CITY niPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION so we do not get tlio I'clief ami protection I'rom sudi miisanees ^vhiell we jniglit get even under the coinnion law. But the rourts are, i)roperly, so conservative and cautious about arl)itrarily inter- fering witli an individual's use of his own property tliat tlie alnise has to he a crying and outrageous one hefore the courts will order it to he ahated under the law of nuisances. And. up to that point there is now ]io relief or mitigation of the abuse. The most effective way to deal with it ap]iears to be by license and taxa- tion^ the same metliod that is used to control many other busi- ness enterprises Avhich are legitimate but liable to abuse. The re(|uiremeut of a license before any sign may be ]»ublic]y exhibited, (jther than one relating to business carried on upon the premises; the rec|iiirement that anv sign or structure for the sup- port and exhibition of signs or posters which may be erected under the license shall be securely built, and of fireproof material (gal- vanized iron is commonly used) ; the imposition of a reasonably heavy annual license tax based i"i}K)n the size of the sign or hill- board authorized by the license; and a proviso that the license may 1)6 revoked or suspended at the discretion of the licensing author- ity in case any immoral, indecent or fraudulent advertisement is exhibited; these measui'cs are legally ])racticable and will lend to keep the abiises of the Ijusiness within bounds. In closing this long and discursive report we Iteg to express the pleasure and interest we took in our visit to Boulder, brief as it was, and the interest with which we look forward to the results of a fuller awakening of the citizens to the peculiar oppor- tunities of the situation and to the need of a progressive munic- ipal policy in consei'ving and developing them. Eespectfully submitted, OLMSTED BEOTHEES, Landscape Architects. Brookline. !Mass. Xov. !Hh. lOOS. K RETURN ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN LIBRARY TOi^ 210 Wurster Hall 642-4818 LOAN PERIOD 1 QUARTER 2 3 1 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Return books early if they ore not being used DUE AS STAMPED BELOW •' '.k-' j FORM NO DD 1 3, 60m, 6'76 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY BERKELEY, CA 94720 innfii,fi^,?.l^,^iiE/ L.BRAR C033b?^Mfil iili H