1923 Planning Board Report-Proposed Additional North-South Through Streets and Diagonals

In the outlying districts of the Town where new houses and new streets are springing up, the individual land owners have used and are still using customary skill and foresight in the planning of individual lots to meet the desires of house builders and to make the lots accessible from the local streets of these subdivisions. Each of these schemes of lots and streets is of course limited in its extent and layout by the size of the tract under development, and by the position of boundary lines which often cramp the position of streets. Evidently the cramped streets of one tract cannot be made to connect with the streets of nearby tracts unless intervening owners co-operate to secure these connections. Co-operation of this kind in Norwood as in other towns and cities has proved to be impracticable and consequently the growth of the community is taking place in patchwork. The confusion of patchwork growth has carried with it in all parts of the Commonwealth great waste of public monies for subsequent street extensions and widenings in the attempt to bring out of this chaos of local streets a sufficient number of reasonably direct through streets for the convenience of the townspeople and for the administration of the Town. Without a rational plan of streets, an economical system of water mains and sewers cannot be installed, an efficient fire service cannot be maintained without duplication of apparatus, economical policing cannot be provided without patrols of roundabout course, and connection for pleasure or business traffic cannot be found without aggravating detours and dangerous bends and jogs. To reduce the waste of this prevailing type of town and city growth, the state has provided for the appointment of Planning Boards. In Norwood the Planning Board proposes for the convenience of individual lot owners and for the welfare of the Town as a whole, the system of north-south through streets shown on the accompanying map. These through lines connect as far as possible, fragments of local streets already built and also determine the location of future through lines. Six through streets and diagonals of this type are proposed, making, with the four existing thoroughfares, a total of ten north-south thoroughfares.