The land necessary for the civic center should be secured at once, while values at the point proposed are reasonable. For the time being this land may be treated as park space; but the sites and the general scheme of grouping for the buildings should be approved, so that as the city, the county, and the general government outgrow their present structures, the new ones may take their appointed places, each one contributing its part to an orderly and convenient scheme. The adoption of such a scheme would save a very large amount of money in the purchase of public building sites; and would create stability in real estate values. To the West Side especially the development of a civic center along the lines indicated is a matter of prime importance; for it will give to that portion of the city the needed impetus towards higher standards than now prevail there. At the same time it will benefit all other parts of the city, since it is for the advantage of Chicago as a whole that each portion shall be developed equally with every other portion. The cost of the civic center should be paid by the whole community. The street plan as laid out involves a very considerable amount of money; but it will be found that in Chicago as in other cities, the opening of new thoroughfares, although involving large initial expense, creates an increase in values, due to increase in convenience and the provision for adequate sites for the increasing retail traffic of the city. The cost will amount to many millions of dollars, but the result will be continuous prosperity for all who dwell here; and such prosperity the city cannot have unless it becomes a convenient and pleasant place in which to live.