Page:Lectures on Housing.djvu/31

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AT RENTS THEY CAN AFFORD TO PAY
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sometimes argued that the workmen would not take advantage of such facilities if they were provided—that he wants to live near his work. I doubt it, and for this reason, that whenever he has a chance of living away from his work he takes it. Of course, some people, such as Covent Garden porters, who have to be at work at 3 o'clock in the morning, must live absolutely on the spot. But the man who goes to work at ordinary times is quite willing to travel for half an hour if he can do so in decent comfort, and can secure a really better home by the daily journey.

There is a little village outside York, 2½ miles from the middle of the city, with no means of transit except walking or bicycling along a muddy road, yet the houses could be let over and over again. The history of Garden Suburbs, all over the country, shows that a great many people are anxious to live in them. They go out at the first chance, and their friends come and see them, and are fired by their example. It means a garden,