Rezoning

Amanda Burden amassed quite a track record during her tenure as planning commissioner for New York City, like rezoning 40 percent of the city. In a recent Ted talk, however, Burden concentrated on the details that make for successful public spaces.

April 9, 2014 - TED

Why should people have veto power over anything built in their neighborhood?

March 12, 2014 - Michael Lewyn

In news that will come as either refreshing or frightening depending on your perspective, the Denver Planning Board recently ignored public opposition and voted to recommend rezoning in the University Park neighborhood.

March 7, 2014 - Denver Post

It was supposed to be the crowning land use achievement in a mayoral reign that saw 40 percent of New York City rezoned. But statements indicate the City Council is set to shelve Mayor Bloomberg's controversial Midtown East upzoning.

November 13, 2013 - New York Daily News

After rezoning 37 percent of New York City, Mayor Bloomberg is pursuing one last major rezoning plan before he leaves office. But will a lame duck Council speaker and her colleagues grant the mayor a final victory?

October 23, 2013 - The New York Times

The candidates competing to emerge from today's mayoral primary confront a host of challenges that threaten the quality of life in the Big Apple. Five experts identify the issues they believe are key to improving the city's livability.

September 10, 2013 - The New York Times

Michael Kimmelman comes out against the plan to rezone a 73-block area around Grand Central Terminal to allow the replacement of "aging commercial buildings with giant new office towers". The city should focus on planning, not zoning, he argues.

July 25, 2013 - The New York Times

NYC's revised plan for rezoning the area known as East Midtown met with a chilly reception from a variety of community and interest groups when unveiled last week. Planners are trying to finalize the controversial plan before Mayor Bloomberg exits.

July 20, 2013 - The New York Times

In Portland, Oregon an unlikely partnership of environmental and business interests is supporting a plan to rezone an 84-year-old golf course to allow industrial development, bringing a new slant to the term 'greenfield development'.

June 11, 2013 - The Oregonian

Did the rezoning of the Williamsburg waterfront backfire? Stephen Jacob Smith reflects on the lack of transition between the neighborhood's skyscraping waterfront and its low-rise inland, a missing middle mandated by recent upzoning.

March 17, 2013 - New York Observer

Two position papers out this week present the opposing viewpoints in the contentious debate around New York's Midtown East rezoning. Should historic building protections in the area be expanded or should developers be allowed to maximize density?

March 1, 2013 - The New York Times

Kelly Anderson's documentary My Brooklyn tells the story of gentrification through the lens of corporate interests in urban planning.

February 4, 2013 - Hyperallergic

New York's Municipal Arts Society has released a list of 17 historic buildings it believes are threatened by the Bloomberg administration's plans to re-zone a significant portion of the area surrounding Grand Central Terminal.

December 13, 2012 - The New York Observer

Decades ago, ecologist Garrett Hardin wrote about the "tragedy of the commons"- when an action that is rational for one person becomes irrational when widely practiced.  For example, suppose that there are a few dozen cattle ranchers near a pasture open to all.  It makes sense for each rancher to let as many cattle graze as possible on the pasture, so that the ranchers can feed their cattle without buying additional land.  But if every rancher lets as many cattle as possible graze, sooner or later the land will be overgrazed and the cattle may starve.

August 27, 2012 - Michael Lewyn

Why rezone? John Farley summarizes the factors leading up to some of the city's biggest and more recent rezonings, as well as their impacts on on their surroundings.

January 5, 2012 - Thirteen.org

A recent rezoning led to high economic hopes for downtown Brooklyn. But a more recent economic downturn seems to have undermined those expectations. Indeed, some growth has occurred, but success depends on whom you ask.

December 3, 2011 - Brooklyn Bureau

The Center for Urban Real Estate unveiled a proposal to connect Lower Manhattan and Governors Island with landfill to spur development in the area. The connection would generate $16.7 billion of revenue for the city, the center estimates.

November 23, 2011 - The New York Times

Developer Gerald Friedman is incredulous that county commissioners won't let him rezone his property in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

April 20, 2011 - The Virginian-Pilot

An influx of chain stores and new development in Harlem has many residents worried about retaining the historical character of the nation's so-called "African American 'Main-Street.'" Not everybody minds the changes though.

December 14, 2010 - The Columbia Daily Spectator

A new report from the Furman Center finds that the effect of the 100+ rezonings under the Bloomberg administration is minimal, with upzonings and downzonings almost canceling each other out.

March 22, 2010 - The New York Times