One of the nuggets included in the Regional Plan Association's Forth Plan, released in late 2017, is a proposal to create a national park out of the New Jersey Meadowlands.
To save jobs and homes numbering in the many thousands, the Regional Plan Association's Forth Plan recommends turning 21,000 acres of the New Jersey Meadowlands into "Climate Change National Park."
The idea hasn't sees as much coverage as some of the other aspects of the long-anticipated plan, but that changed this week with an article for Curbed New York by Karrie Jacobs.
The Fourth Regional Plan aims to cope with rising sea levels by fundamentally rethinking the New Jersey Meadowlands, with its 14 densely populated towns, its thousands of acres of warehouse and distribution facilities, its highways and rail lines, its stadiums and arenas. In a large section on climate change that mostly deals with ideas that are admirable but not very surprising—“modernize the electric grid” or “upgrade infrastructure to high standards of resilience”—there is a section entitled “Establish a national park in the Meadowlands.”
To verify the seriousness of the idea—not to mention the need for the idea—Jacobs speaks with Robert Freudenberg, vice president of energy and environmental programs for the RPA, as well as Adrian Benepe, senior vice president at the Trust for Public Land and former New York City parks commissioner.
Read the full story: What if New Jersey’s Meadowlands were a national park?
How Rising Seas Threaten the NYC Metro Area
A report from the Regional Plan Association maps out what might happen under 1, 3, and 6 feet of sea level rise. In the worst cases, several dense and populated regions are affected.
South Carolina Mapping Tool Tracks Marsh Migration From Sea Level Rise
The movement of South Carolina’s coastal salt marshes is an early harbinger of the path of future floods.
In a Warmer, Wetter and More Disaster-prone World: “Nature is the Greatest Designer”
A conversation with the American Society of Landscape Architects’ CEO Torey Carter-Conneen and board president Kona Gray.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand
For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.
NYC cools commuters with city's first rain garden above a bus stop
New York City officials say the plants in the rain garden can absorb 16 gallons of rainwater during heavy storms.
Brightline West’s future may rely on $6 billion federal loan
The company has until Nov. 2 to make a $400 million equity investment into its proposed high-speed rail line.
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.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association