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I don't think people realize just how perfect Chicago's grade is. There is a zero block, and all blocks are uniform in size, and have a numerical assignment, meaning 800 West Anystreet is 8 blocks west of the zero point. Every eight blocks is a mile. If someone gives you an address, you know exactly where it is, that is, if you know the grid. Some old-timers will actually give you the coordinates just to soon as they'll give you the cross-streets, eg 1600 North and 800 West.
This is basically the same concept of many parts of Philly. Lso the numbering and block numbering by 100s
The streets east/west are numbered making it even easier
How about the original planned city, Washington DC? Four directional quadrants, streets in numeric or alphabetical order, avenues radiating from central points, low density, walkable, and subways (though aging) as well. We may like grids better, but DC is quite well-planned IMO.
Uh ... Sorry, but Savannah was America's first planned city, laid out in 1733 and thus pre-dating Washington, DC by nearly 70 years.
*First planned city in the New World--planned by William Penn in 1682. The original plan is more or less intact and constitutes the core of what is known today as "Center City". It comprises an area of about three square miles between the Delaware River on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Vine Street on the north and South Street on the south. The plan is anchored by five large public squares--Franklin, Washington, Rittenhouse, Logan, and Penn (where City Hall stands).
Penn survived the Great London fire of 1666 and he wanted to make his new city as fireproof as possible. Thus the plan is a simple grid with wide straight streets to facilitate the movement of fire equipment (Philly had America's first fire company). The squares were to function as "firebreaks" and as places of refuge in case of a large fire. All houses were to be made of brick situated in the center of each lot and surrounded by trees. Penn called Philadelphia his "green country towne".
*The Benjamin Franklin Parkway modified Penn's original plan when it was constructed between 1914-1915. The Parkway cuts diagonally across the grid's northwest quadrant and connects the Philadelphia Museum of Art with the City Hall. Its origins can be traced to the "City Beautiful" movement that started with the "White City" portion of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. The Parkway was designed by Paul Cret and Jacques Greber of Paris and is modelled after the Champs Elysees with a replica of the Place de La Concorde centered on Logan Square. The reciprocal vistas up and down the Parkway between the City Hall and the Art Museum are simply magnificent--a triumph of city planning and great urban design.
The original layout and buildout are two components. A third is how the city has been allowed to grow over time.
For example a city that doesn't require parking, at least in more-urban neighborhoods, can do far better with growth than a city where new construction has parking attached to everything new. There's also the minutae of design, density, etc. allowed by the land use code and process.
How about the original planned city, Washington DC? Four directional quadrants, streets in numeric or alphabetical order, avenues radiating from central points, low density, walkable, and subways (though aging) as well. We may like grids better, but DC is quite well-planned IMO.
Bingo...one of the major cities that is studied in graduate school for Urban Planning
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