HOUSES FOR 45,000

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 13240, 16 January 1941, Page 8

HOUSES FOR 45,000

COST OF £12,000,000 It is reported that architects, townplanners and the building industij generally are watching with interest the creation of the world’s biggest housing project. This is going up near New Y r ork city and is being erected by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company at a cost of twelve million pounds. The area of Parkchester is 129 acres. It is hoped when the project is complete it will be served by a sub-way system operating 011 a nickel fare to New Y r ork. In conceiving this huge project that will house between forty-five and sixty thousand people, the Metropolitan had three objectives in view: (1) To provide average families with modern apartments in a congenial environment dose to the City centre, (2) To help reduce unemployment, and (3) To make a sound investment of the Company funds. The master plan is such that all residences may obtain complete outdoor relaxation and recreation without leaving the limit of anyone of the quadrants. Over 50 per cent, of the total area will be devoted to parks and playgrounds, 27 per will be covered by buildings, while approximately 21 per cent, will be devoted to streets. The twelve thousand two hundred and sixty-nine apartments are contained in a group j of individual buildings ranging from eight to fourteen floors in height. It might be said for the first time the habits, whims, desires and personalities of an entire city of people have been translated into wood, brick, stone and steel ; a tremendous job accomplished after an exhaustive study of to-day’s changing way of life. How people eat, sleep, cook, have fun, raise children, and enterain their friends, how people do these ‘things to-day has been the guidingfactor in planning Parkhurst, the City of to-morrow. ' The plan includes restaurants, stores, a movie theatre (to seat 2,000), skating rinks, wading pools for children and plenty of recreational provision for elderly people.