When civic leaders incorporated Chicago as a city in 1837, they looked at the flat, swampy, windswept site and called it Urbs in Horto, "City in a Garden." To make a reality of this vision, legislation creating Chicago's comprehensive park system was approved in 1869-70, and the boulevards were an integral part of the plan. These wide, straight roadways, bordered or centered with a grassy medians and formal tree allees, were planned to connect projected parks south, west, and north of the Chicago River forming a "greenway" completely encircling the fast-growing city. Each of the three independent park districts had its own designers, responsible for both parks and boulevards. The South Parks District hired Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) and Calvert Vaux (1824-1895); William Le Baron Jenny (1832-1907) was selected by the West Parks District. On the north side, development occurred before land adequate for the typical 250-foot boulevard width was secured by the Lincoln Park District, so Diversey Parkway is only 66 feet wide. Intended to provide orderly circulation through the city as well as corridors of light and space, these boulevards remain some of Chicago's principal roadways as well as being a remarkable urban amenity.