Elsa Brenner looks at the boon for developers, and residents, that a city-and-state-funded effort to daylight the Saw Mill River has provided for the New York City suburb of Yonkers.
Cities around the country have found creative means to stay buoyant during the Great Recession - from single-minded developer led initiatives to diversifying their economies by attracting medical and university facilities. For the city of Yonkers, focusing on reinvigorating the city's long-hidden natural resource has proven to be a successful approach.
While development in the decade before the recession brought new construction, adaptive reuse, and public amenities to the city's Hudson River waterfront, with the daylighting of the Saw Mill River, the city's redevelopment efforts are being shifted downtown. Developers are now flocking to "A two-block section of the Saw Mill, a tributary of the Hudson River
buried under concrete for nearly a century, [that] has now been uncovered and
surrounded by benches in a parklike setting," writes Brenner. "When the next two phases of
the $48 million daylighting project are completed in about three years,
the river will meander through a six-block-long section of downtown
Yonkers for all to behold."
"At Scenic Hudson, a Poughkeepsie
environmental group that worked with Yonkers to undertake the
daylighting project, Ned Sullivan, its president, described the Saw Mill
River, which had become polluted before it was covered over, as 'no
longer a resource people want to hide.'"
"Not only is it a catalyst for revitalization of the downtown," he said,
"but now it will become the centerpiece of the city."
FULL STORY: Restored River a Boon to Yonkers

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

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

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

‘Displaced By Design:’ Report Spotlights Gentrification in Black Neighborhoods
A new report finds that roughly 15 percent of U.S. neighborhoods have been impacted by housing cost increases and displacement.

Nevada and Utah Groups Oppose Public Land Sell-Off Plan
A set of last-minute amendments to the budget reconciliation bill open up over half a million acres of federally managed land to sales.

More Than a Park: A Safe Haven for Generations in LA’s Chinatown
Alpine Recreation Center serves as a vital cultural and community hub in Los Angeles' Chinatown, offering a safe, welcoming space for generations of Chinese American residents to gather, connect, and thrive amidst rapid urban change.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Clovis
City of Moorpark
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions