From the Archives of Citizens' Business

Select editions (PDF files)

• "City Planning and Zoning in Philadelphia," Aug. 8, 1920
• "Appoint More, Elect Less," June 5, 1934; "The Row Offices," Aug. 23, 1923
• "What about Zoning?" Jan. 1, 1920; "A Tip to Billy Penn," April 19, 1923; "Zoning for Philadelphia," Nov. 8, 1923; "Zoning Not Untried in Philadelphia," April 10, 1924; "Philadelphia's Zoning," March 15, 1938; "Progress Toward Modernizing Philadelphia's Zoning Laws," Nov. 28, 1955; "Zoning Administration," Feb. 24, 1958
• "Putting Pep in City Planning,"  Jan. 17, 1924; "For Effective City Planning," Jan. 31, 1939; "Rapidly Expanding Bucks County Tools up for Local Planning," May 23, 1955

Select quotations

"The Federal income tax applies to persons whose incomes exceed $3,000 or $4,000. The municipal income tax hits every man or woman, whether his income be $300 or $30,000. Every individual and family with an income has a direct interest in the businesslike use of $40,000,000 a year by the city for the promotion of the health, education, safety, convenience, and social welfare of Philadelphia's 1,600,000 citizen-stockholders." #83, Dec. 5, 1913

"If we want more efficient service for our citizens, we must make public service more attractive to the employe [sic]." #138, Jan. 14, 1915

"The day is coming soon, we hope, when Pennsylvanians who do not live in Philadelphia will stop telling Philadelphia how it must spend the money which its citizens pay into the city treasury." #423, July 1, 1920

"As the burden of increasing taxes presses more and more heavily upon us, there is a revival of some of the political jargon of 1910 such as 'efficiency and economy,' 'retrenchment and reform,' and 'reduce the cost of government.'" #471, June 2, 1921

"Like its predecessors, the new administration will find in the Bureau, not a champion of this or that specific cause, but a co-worker with its officials in the common cause of improving the community in which we live...It endeavors to approach all problems with an open mind and to draw such conclusions as the facts warrant, even though they may not support all of the claims of the champions of specific causes." #607, Jan. 10, 1924

"During...two visits to Paris for some weeks in 1920 and 1923, I saw only a single scrap of paper on either sidewalk or roadway. If Paris in the terrible state of her finances can keep her streets so spotlessly clean, surely rich Philadelphia ought to be able to as well. It largely depends on the education of the people. They are responsible for scattering litter." #730, May 18, 1926

"Distinctly conflicting statements are appearing in the newspapers regarding next year's tax rate." #954, Sept. 2, 1930

"Philadelphia's funds, just now, are low, and the city needs to select its expenditures with care. It must plan; and mistakes will be paid for in taxes." #1038, April 12, 1932

"After we adopt this new charter, we'll have an expert city manager in city hall, the city hall will become a business office, and the taxes will be reduced." #1053, July 26, 1932

"America's cities will be increasingly influential in determining America's policies and in fixing the American standard of government." #1677, Sept. 12, 1944 

"Philadelphians are not short of intelligence: they are chronically short of facts." #1836, April 6, 1948 

"No present time ever seems to be the right time to stabilize Philadelphia's general debt limit and general borrowing capacity." #1878, March 29, 1949

"The rapid increase in suburban population - a characteristic of metropolitan areas - has brought new problems of administration to the numerous small municipalities which surround large cities." #D-1, April 30, 1958 (Delaware County)

"The rapid growth rate in private automobile ownership, even in the face of readily accessible mass transportation facilities, poses a parking problem to which there is no ready answer." #2249, Oct. 22, 1962

"The time for decision is imminent. In a democracy, it is appropriate that citizens make their preference known to responsible public officials." #2334, Feb. 15, 1967

"Today, various sections of the five-county metropolitan area of Southeastern Pennsylvania must face up to many problems that cross governmental boundary lines.'" #2373, Feb. 29, 1972 

"The most critical problem facing citizens in this region and elsewhere in the U.S. is the survival of American institutions. The current economic situation is putting pressures on the public and private sectors." #2432, Dec. 31, 1974 (emphasis in original)

"The good news is that for the first time in several years, the budgets adopted by the City and the School District of Philadelphia are balanced without any tax increases (although a new business privilege tax was substituted for two taxes on business)." #2564, Sept. 17, 1984

"Some 50 Pennsylvania municipalities may be facing fiscal distress within the next year." #2587, Oct. 16, 1987