East Coast Rediscovering Urban Waterfronts

"Year-round waterfront living has long been popular in sunny cities such as Miami and Los Angeles. It now is spreading to some of the nation's oldest and coldest towns, the latest sign that real-estate fever and the scarcity of land is prompting developers to take on riskier residential projects. In Boston, new condominiums are popping up along Boston Harbor. In Washington, D.C., developers are starting to lay plans to build housing along the long-neglected Anacostia River. Pittsburgh's Herr's Island, which had been a 42-acre dumping ground full of slaughterhouses and scrap yards, has been transformed by new townhouses. Brooklyn's derelict waterfront was recently re-zoned for residential construction."