Robert B. Tierney, chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, has the difficult job of deciding which parts of city are worthy of preservation, and which parts need to make way for something new.
Tierney, along with the 10 unpaid commissioners who sit on the board -- most of them architectural experts -- hold the power to subjectively distinguish and designate landmarks from run-of-the mill geriatric architecture and, touchier still, the power to preserve them, even without consent from their rightful owners.
Needless to say, often times the commission's decisions are controversial. But Tierney doesn't shy away from it.
" 'There is just an enormous responsibility to keep intact what we already have, keep it healthy, used, and animated,' he says. 'That said, we make discretionary decisions all the time. You can't designate everything. Choices have to be made.' "
Read the full story: Distinguishing the Remarkable From the Merely Old
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Record-breaking wildlife overpass in Colorado brings 91% reduction in animal collisions
Prior to the overpass, vehicles were hitting one deer per day on Colorado’s Interstate 25.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Trump wants to cancel nearly 98% of funding for HUD housing support program
Multiple housing groups are suing the administration in an effort to preserve the funding.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello