A New York Times article today spotlights the new High Line park built atop an elevated rail line in Manhattan. The High Line offers a retreat from street life, a bucolic space floating 30 feet in the air with Hudson River views. Yet it retains many elements of its gritty past: graffiti is prevalent on [...]
Filed under: planning, renewal, transportation | Tagged: chicago, elevated trails, new york city, st. louis | 2 Comments »
In a guest post at Kaid Benfield’s Switchboard blog (of NRDC), Rachel Sohmer very nicely describes the issues around street connectivity, using a childhood example about how the suburban dead-ends and cul-de-sacs made even short trips “as the crow flies” long given all the obstacles. The below figures show the difference more street connections can [...]
Filed under: planning | Tagged: accessibility, suburbs | 7 Comments »
An article in the New York Times yesterday gives an interesting overview of the row that’s ensued in the past years over redesigning and changing New York’s well-known 10-acre Washington Square Park. The article provides valuable insight into how or if park redesigns should be undertaken in such a situation, but also reveals how much [...]
Filed under: planning | Tagged: new york | 1 Comment »
California has just introduced an program that awards cities for building affordable housing with grants for parks. More: This money will reward communities by enhancing the quality of life in these neighborhoods. We hope that all of our communities can benefit from more parks and more affordable housing,” said Lynn L. Jacobs, Director of HCD. [...]
Filed under: funding | Tagged: affordable housing | 1 Comment »
Yet more news on big music festivals in parks. Word has it from the City Insider blog at the San Francisco Chronicle that the city’s Rec. and Park Dept. was thrilled with the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park this year. The reason: revenue. (Read our past posts here.) These things are bringing [...]
Filed under: funding | Tagged: festivals, san francisco | 2 Comments »
Many people may not know about the effort to rebuild City Park in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the park — trees and buildings downed, flooding with limited resources left for renewal. Through a privately financed, $2 million effort a facelift is now getting under way. A story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune [...]
Filed under: renewal | Tagged: new orleans | Leave a Comment »
The U.S Supreme Court today heard a case about city parks, of all things. Well, the case was more about how and what monuments or donations a city can display in its parks. The basic issues are described in an AP article: The Salt Lake City-based Summum wants to erect its “Seven Aphorisms of Summum” [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
The Obama campaign announced its support this fall for establishing a White House Office of Urban Policy that would deal with efforts involving our metropolitan areas across the issue spectrum. A recent Washington Post article seems to show the promise will be fulfilled: Plans are underway to establish a White House Office of Urban Policy [...]
Filed under: funding | Tagged: federal policy | Leave a Comment »
After decades of bad politics, missed connections, lost opportunities, and fading beauty, parks are on the comeback, says an editorial for the September issue of Parks & Recreation (pdf) magazine by Peter Harnik. The piece looks at parks’ renewed standing in cities — and how the time is right for advocates to push them: For [...]
Filed under: economics | 3 Comments »
