Forward thinking.

The day is long past when our leaders actually led. It seems far too often nowadays the people who are in positions of power in our government take their cues from polls and by reacting than by leading the country in a new direction and anticipating events before they reach crisis stage.

In that vein I was reading about this the other day:

It may to many be a matter of surprise that so few vacant spaces have been left, and those so small, for the benefit of fresh air and consequent preservation of health. Certainly if the city of New York was destined to stand on the side of a small stream such as the Seine or the Thames, a great number of ample places might be needful. But those large arms of the sea which embrace Manhattan island render its situation, in regard to health and pleasure as well as to the convenience of commerce, peculiarly felicitous. When, therefore, from the same causes the prices of land are so uncommonly great, it seems proper to admit the principles of economy to greater influence than might, under circumstances of a different kind, have consisted with the dictates of prudence and the sense of duty.

Just imagine for one second if you will what the city would be like if they hadn’t thought in advance to meet the needs of a growing metropolis?