New York City
Introducing The Low Line
Under New York's Delancey Street lurks 60,000 square feet of vaulted ceilings and cobbled streets, sitting unappreciated in the dark. A group of entrepreneurs have plans to create a subterranean park there.
Dangerous, But Useful: Illegal Apartments
Illegal apartments present a quandary for the city of New York: they increase the danger of fire, but also provide needed shelter that couldn't be found elsewhere. Some experts think a path to legalization could work.
Preserving Brooklyn's Industrial Heritage on its Waterfronts
While the rest of the city's waterfronts are to be developed as public promenades, much of Brooklyn wants to retain its previous industrial uses. Liana Grey reports.
Lever House Closes Temporarily To Protect Its Owners From "Adverse Possesion"
In an another nuance of the ownership laws that govern New York's parks and plazas, the modernist masterpiece Lever House will close today to keep its plaza privately public.
Casting A Robert Moses Biopic
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that HBO is working with Oliver Stone on a biopic of New York's famous master planner.
Closing Loopholes in NYC Parking Reforms
New York City already has low parking maximums in place in much of Manhattan, but those maximums are riddled with loopholes. A set of reforms being developed by the Department of City Planning would tighten those regulations further.
Transferring Issue is 7 Line Extension's Downfall
According to Alon Levy, the 7 line extension from New York City to Secaucus, NJ will get workers "almost to their jobs," but not quite. It may seem trivial, but literature on the penalty of certain transfers may be pointing to failure.
"Sloppy Nature" of Parking Study Could Hinder Reform
The New York City Department of City Planning wants to place maximums in the Manhattan core, but there's just one problem: its own two-year-old parking study. Noah Kazis reports on the faulty arguments against reform.
For Biking to Flourish, Empower the Community Boards
Tom Angotti believes that community participation and neighborhood-level planning are key to a wider network of bike infrastructure in New York City.
The Growing Food Truck Industrial Complex
The food truck phenomenon is here to stay and stimulating tangential industries that include truck outfitters, permit expediters, lawyers lobbyists, website designers, and marketing professionals.
Diverse, But Not Integrated
New York City may be diverse, but it is also one of the most segregated places in the country, and a rash of recent events involving civic employees reflects this. Until this is remedied, New Yorkers "won't have as much to brag about as we think."
In Northern Manhattan, Community Board Nixes High-Rise Apartments
Community board members, representing a traditionally Dominican neighborhood with six- to 10-story buildings, recently rejected one developer's plans for a mixed-income project of 800+ apartments, fearing gentrification and non-contextual development
A Call to Revamp POPS
New York City's privately-owned public spaces are back on the radar since protesters took over Zuccotti Park last month. Remnants of good-intentioned zoning that didn't quite do enough, the spaces are often far more lackluster than occupier-worthy.
How Would You Change the Zoning Code?
At last week's Municipal Art Society Summmit in New York City, one panel of experts attempted to answer just that. Neither overbearing zoning rules, contextual zoning, or the current environmental review process was left untouched.
Plan to Revitalize Public Housing Stymied by NYC Parking Requirements
New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea says that the city's own parking minimums are making it difficult to make public housing sites more mixed-use, mixed-income and financially sustainable.
A "Healthy Capacity" for Transit Manufacturing Exists in NYC
Citing the shift in economic activity at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Ginia Bellafonte makes a case for bringing transit manufacturing to this and similar areas of the city. Talent's not an issue, but financing always is.
The Subway of the Future, Next Year
Communications Based Train Control (CBCT) will allow New York City's subways to run more efficiently than ever. But like with all service improvements, implementation will take some time and patience, write Josef Szende and Charles Komanoff.
Privately Owned Public Spaces: What are the Rules?
Site of the Occupy Wall Street protests, Zuccotti Park is a privately-owned public space. Lisa W. Foderaro explains the difference between this and a public park, and why it works for the protests.
The Science Behind Bike-Share Placement In NYC
The Atlantic examines the factors that create a successfully implemented bike sharing program, based on current plans scheduled to be implemented on New York streets by next summer.
"In Limbo," Foreclosed Apartments Lack Maintenance
Until the foreclosure process is finalized, apartment buildings are the responsibility of no one in particular. Around New York City, writes Chris Opfer, foreclosing banks are increasingly being given the task of maintaining and repairing them.
Pagination
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.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions