| Show Nation Turns Against Crowded Cities Building Its Future Futine in the Small Town I New Industrial and Social Concept Will Feature De By JOSEPH W. W V. V LaBINE Main Street the same street that once echoed to a surging bonanza spirit of pioneering America has again come into its own Once more the carnival tom torn tom torn is heard on Saturday night where but a few years ago there was gloomy silence New business is springing up in small town New faces are seen sallow faces perhaps p for they come from the city chased away by byun un uncertainty un certainty and grasping for a a. a new chance where life is sweeter sweeter sweeter-in in the small town Here is being built a new S foundation tion more secure secure than the one which crumbled two decades ago Gone is the de de- desire desire de- de desire sire to become a big city Gone too is the pessimism that seized these towns when S the golden lure of metropolitan life lire began sapping their strength Hav Hay Having Having ing found once more their place In Inthe inthe inthe the sun they are surely pointing the way to a new and better scheme of things This revolution re revolution for f for r such it Is is- is has been growing since 1929 It is a violent reaction to the movement that gripped our nation after the World war when every ambitious small town and farm youth became obsessed with an urge to seek his future in the city By Bythe Bythe the time depression arrived centers like Chicago and New York had become too large unwieldy It took but a slight upset to send them turn tum tumbling bling to throw thousands of people out of work A Basic asle Movement Under such circumstances when a country lad finds himself walking barren sidewalks with an empty stomach fundamental things like food and shelter become mighty im im- important Back home close to the soil food and shelter come easy and anda a man needn't walk the streets friendless From this new basic ap ap- appreciation apprecIation predation of mankind's prime ne ne- necessities necessities necessities has grown today's move move- movement ment But its it's bigger than that the thirst for small town security has gripped all America starting a amass amass amass mass flight from the city that will eventually result in decentralization of ot both boUt population and industry The metropolis scored the first touchdown in this battle of city ver vcr versus versus sus small town to Industry sought out populous centers because labor was cheap and most of its products were consumed there Moreover these were the nerve centers of cation But this was false economics in part Industry soon discovered that cities also brought labor trouble and high taxes And eventually mans man's ingenuity developed d faster transportation tation taU on better roads and better liv hv- S 4 5 S 'S 4 IS 5 t- t L LS I S s I k S q i S 1 S S SS S 5 S S 5 S 5 5 St s a a's i i S rt J b The typical small town or farm home honie like this offers a happy con S to crowded city cUy apartments apartment providing the basis for Americas America's new ne plan of or living S t ing conditions in the small towns to By the time tim depression arrived It was clear most factories could op op- operate crate erate just as successfully in the small towns meanwhile permitting the working man to enjoy a better life In short the smaller community community community is no longer Isolated Hedging Against Adversity This magic change of of American i thought is an amazing thing yet it itis itis itIs is logical The bright lights of a city are glamorous just so long then their artificiality becomes apparent Like a siren the metropolis will lure men only to cast them aside in a afew afew afew few years To safeguard their fu future ture an enormous s number of city business and professional men have bought retreats in distant dist nt small smalltown smalltown town to or farm areas where they wIn will move should hard luck dog their I trail They have realized as the entire nation is realizing that per per- permanent permanent manent security lies very close to the soil Populous centers are characteristically characteristically shoddy and small mi ml minority minorIty can hope to escape this en en- environment environment by living in fn the ih better residential districts Speaking of Chicago again that city's building managers mam gers recently heard a picturesque picturesque esque description of their community ty by Walter H IL Blucher executive director pf the American Society pf Planning Engineers 4 he said waving waving- his hand to encompass the area is a city with a gorgeously beautiful bea lake lakefront front front front-a a beautiful front door but a filthy back yard The lake front is like a paupers pauper's shroud shroud all all front and no back Consider a point point-by-point comparison comparison ison Whether urban or rural family life is built around the home In any anyone one of a dozen lage la ge cities that home will be a crowded crow led apartment where youngsters grow up confined within four walls In the small smalltown smalltown town to that same family would have its own 0 private home for less mon mon- money money ey equipped with every modem modern convenience eo available ava in inthe the th apart mont ment Look at Every Every state now maintains strict supervision over its schools whether metropolitan tan or r rural ra Under er these h se basic reg regulations regulations Farmer Fanner Browns Brown's child gets instruction equally competent to that enjoyed by by Broker r Jones' Jones youngster in the nearby hearby city Comparison of Stores His stores offer merchandise com comparable parable to that of city city firms firms' mak making mak mak- making making ing him less dependent on metro metro- metropolitan metro politan areas When he must occasionally occa occa- occasionally S visit the urban center on business or entertainment smooth roads make mak the trip quick and safe Living costs are lower though It has been argued that rural salaries are also smaller Not until last year did a government survey reveal the difference is not so great as often I presumed d. d The United States bu bureau reau reau of of home economics discovered L LS that half the white families in a typical S cal American village manage on less than 1100 a year During the same s me year one half the families in New NewYork Ne P York lived on less than 1814 and I one fourth of New Yorks York's total population lation l tion had incomes under 1000 In Beaver Dam Wis iVis considered c I Ia a a. a typical non-metropolitan non town federal investigators found the aver aver- average average average age income of families was 1309 considerably above the th city bit P average Moreover only 10 per pes percent percent cent of Beaver Dams Dam's families had hat I more than one wage earner carner where whereas as in metropolitan centers about 30 3 to 40 per cent of the families de dc depend pend on two or more bread breadwinners breadwinners breadwinners winners Culture of or Cities Probably the most outstanding examination of versus country r has been made by Louis Mumford a psychologist whose Culture of a. a f Cities created a stir last spring Mr Mumford says the worlds world's S greatest cities are definitely on the tin downward dO path Far from being I good and wonderful in proportion to t their size he says they are crush crushing crushing ing rather than serving the minions millions I within their grasp Among his claims That That medieval towns were more mor livable than any man has built since That the machine age brought brough t industrial towns In which even upper r classes lived in slum-like slum congestion congestion tion with houses lacking proper light and ventilation That That the metropolis offers a like ghost existence That That the downward dO cycle of city evolution if it unchecked leads to to of industry question question- questionable questionable able speculation and positive de de- depression depression followed by grafting grating and crime that ends in a and an exodus from the city Dont Don't like it Then be thankful you live in a small town Z 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