Following on to my post yesterday about the a project called Under the Elevated that is looking at the in New York City that exist under the elevated transportation infrastructure of the city, I also was able to sit down with Susan Chin of the Design Trust for Public Space and talk for around ten minutes about the project. I would describe the Design Trust as a sort of R&D lab for public space improvements in New York. They do very early stage conceptual studies of things like spaces under elevated trains, and develop ideas that can then … [Read more...]
Richard Florida on New York’s Great Reset
In addition to my City Journal article on the new NYU report about New York City's "great reset," I also was able to grab a few minutes with Richard Florida to get his take on the report. Listen below, or if the audio embed doesn't display for you, click over to listen on Soundcloud. … [Read more...]
When High Density Is Humane
So many of the complaints about density seem to revolve around all the supposed negative affects of congestion, as well a general sense of the inhumanity of high density living, which in the popular mind is associated with the proverbial "concrete jungle" and a forest of skycrapers. I can understand why many people want a house on a big lot. On the other hand, high density living, done right, can be extremely livable, humane, and even uncongested. When I lived in Chicago I frequently would have people tell me that they couldn't imagine … [Read more...]
Why the Rent Is Too High, Reason #239
It's no secret housing costs are high and going higher in major US cities like NYC, San Francisco, etc. I was just tweeting with someone this week who moved back from Park Slope, Brooklyn to Indianapolis because her rent was being raised by over 50% (possibly that's a cumulative increase over time - not sure). Most of the urbanist discussion tends to focus around zoning as the reason prices are high. That's certainly an important factor. But there are also other things driving up costs and rents. The NYT highlighted one of them last Sunday, … [Read more...]
How Segregated Is New York City?
[ I don't know how he comes up with this stuff, but Daniel Hertz has continued to turn out tons of interesting maps and findings on segregation and inequality. In this piece from last April, he looked at the matter of segregation in New York City. For more, check out his web site - Aaron. ] Update to Original Post: I wrote this in the comments, but several people have asked about it and not everyone makes it down there: this post focuses on white-black segregation because that, for various social and historical reasons, has been by far the … [Read more...]
New York Penn Station: Taming the Beast
[ This week Robert Munson returns to his look at North America's central train stations with a look at New York's infamous "beast" - Pennsylvania Station. He picks up after his look at the "beauty" that is Grand Central Terminal - Aaron. ] This post is part of a series by Robert Munson called North America’s Train Stations: What Makes Them Sustainable — or Not? Showing the grandeur of the original Penn Station (destroyed 1963), this main waiting room approximated the volume of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. Photo via Wikimedia … [Read more...]
Grand Central Terminal And Penn Station: Will The Beauty and The Beast Ever Get Married?
This post is part of a series by Robert Munson called North America’s Train Stations: What Makes Them Sustainable — or Not? See the series introduction for more. Photo by the author to celebrate GCT’s 100th anniversaryIn today’s tale, Grand Central Terminal is The Beauty. Admired also for her goodness, she touches souls in ways most civic buildings cannot. Many souls, such as this author, find her exquisite. So when our mid-Century trend of destroying beautiful buildings put GCT on the demolition list, the public’s stored-up admiration … [Read more...]
Newark Penn Station
This post is part of a series called North America’s Train Stations: What Makes Them Sustainable — or Not? See the series introduction for more. Photo from City of Newark websiteA visual pleasure inside and out, Newark’s Penn Station is more than a pretty face. An excellent workhorse, this station helped save one of America’s most troubled cities. Seemingly married to a special Destiny, this station was born in spite of the Great Depression and has endured as a leading Economic Engine; pulling its city through half a Century of … [Read more...]
Rezoning Midtown East by Micah Rodman
[ Many of you are probably aware by now that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pushing to upzone the Midtown East area around Grand Central Terminal before he leaves office. Micah Rodman, a student at Yale, wrote an a paper on this I thought would be of interest as an example showing the way Bloomberg has been seeking to reshape New York - Aaron. ] Currently, the New York City Department of Urban Planning is in the public approval process of changing the zoning for East Midtown as a means of redeveloping the neighborhood. In this 73-block … [Read more...]
Are You a Consumer or a Producer?
Cities like New York offer a nearly unlimited range of pastimes, diversions, and consumption activities. If you want to have a good meal, see a top notch arts performance, shop, etc., this is the place for you. You can get more quantity of quality in the world's biggest cities than you can anywhere else. The question I often ask though, is whether most of the people living there and partaking of what the city has to offer in fact are part of helping to create those things apart from spending money on them. While anyone with a job or who does … [Read more...]