Michael Arad's winning design for the Ground Zero memorial must overcome considerable political, administrative and financial hurdles if it is ever to be constructed.
"Winning the [Ground Zero memorial] competition was an extraordinary honour for [Michael] Arad. These days, however, it's a matter every day of defending his still unbuilt design, called Reflecting Absence, against the colossal forces waging war at Ground Zero. Arad needs to defend his design because, apart from Mayor Michael Bloomberg who declared last week that the memorial must be accomplished in time for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, few people are up to the task.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., an agency that has steadily lost its vision and purpose over the last seven years, is to be dismantled, if Bloomberg has his way. And the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is seen to be an administration incapable of getting consensus on how to build greatness into the 16 acres of devastated land.
Besides all of that, it's now estimated that the memorial and interpretive museum together could cost as much as $1-billion (U.S.) to build, of which $350-million has been raised, so far, through private donations. With the bottom falling out of the American economy, estimates that about $40-million would then also have to be spent annually on the maintenance and security of the memorial and its museum are surely alarming."
FULL STORY: A vision of grief's depths: Will it be built?

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

The French Solution to Congested Tunnels: Make Them Car-Free
Bay Area transportation officials keep expanding car capacity. Lyon’s Croix Rousse Tunnel offers a different way.

Missouri Governor Reverses Anti-Discrimination Housing Policies
A new state law bars cities from prohibiting source-of-income discrimination against tenants using Section 8 housing vouchers.

USDOT Launches Unfunded 'SAFE ROADS' Program
The program targets “distractions” and “political messages or artwork,” and paves the way for autonomous vehicles.
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