Riverside

Riverside, Illinois, is a suburb of Chicago noteworthy as being a prototype 'garden suburb', planned and laid out by the architects and planners Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux on a 1,000 acre site between 1868 and 1870. Great attention was paid to the scenic effect of the estate: all the residential streets were curved, both for effect and to take advantage of the site's topography; there was much tree-planting, and Riverside was connected to Chicago by a tree-shaded parkway. Even today, Riverside stands out on a map of Chicago in stark contrast to the rigid grid-pattern of the suburbs that surround it.

The British urban theorist and garden city pioneer Ebenezer Howard worked as a court reporter in Chicago in the early 1870s, and although there is no evidence that he had visited Riverside, it is highly likely, given his known interests, that he would have known of the experiment; and it is equally likely that this influenced his own thinking and plans.

Riverside, CA[edit]

Riverside is also the name of a city in California outside Los Angeles. It is home to both UC Riverside and California Baptist University.

Further Information[edit]

• http://www.fredericklawolmsted.com/riverside.html
• http://www.snre.umich.edu/ecomgt/pubs/riverside.htm