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| 2131 North Weber Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80907 | 719-471-5884 or toll-free
1-888-412-7717 | The year 1912 was an important milestone for Colorado
Springs. Still a young city of 40
years, the easy-going Little London began the journey to become a
metropolitan presence on Colorado’s Front Range. The city faced choices
that would patently impact its future. Numerous trains created unsightly
air pollution, extremely wide streets presented challenges for pedestrians
and costly paving, and the deficiency in developed neighborhood parks was
in contrast with the abundant city park acreage. It is interesting to read about the concerns of 1912 in the
context of the choices the city faces now, 100 years later. The city’s potential was clear to civic architect
Charles Mulford Robinson, though he acknowledged the city’s previous
planning mistakes and ill-conceived design choices, like the grid of wide
streets and the “unfortunate spacing” of median “parking strips” on Cascade
Avenue. Robinson’s recommendations,
reproduced as this book, were formed from his observations described in two
reports, “A Report for the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and El Paso
Good Roads Association” on the Development of the Streets, published in
1905, and “A General Plan for the Improvement of Colorado Springs,” presented
to City Council on May 29,1912. Looking at Colorado Springs today, the evidence of
Robinson’s vision and the City Beautiful movement philosophy are visible in
the landscaping of the streets, the numerous neighborhood parks, and the
preservation of mountain views. Perhaps you will appreciate the forethought
of those who cared about the growth and planning of the city. Knowing that you and others care about
these issues today, the year 2012 can mark the beginning of another era
“characterized by a general civic awakening.”
Coming in May 2012
from the Pikes Peak Library District
