High Line…What is Redevelopment?
What if people could redevelop themselves? Perhaps they do. Hardly anyone would say that they don’t seek to better themselves or their situation– how they do it, why, is all subjective and personal.
Sometimes that is why some of us travel…searching in other places is often a search for something in oneself…or about oneself, one’s place in the world…and so on…generally some kind of enlightenment…
So last weekend I found myself taking such a trip. It was a rite of passage to leave Finn for the first time including a few nights away. Armed with a little pump and two pairs of kickass boots (Thank You Relish!) I set out for Manhattan and stayed at The Jane. I had an agenda. Walking: and lots of it. Pizza: New York style, oh divine. Kandinsky: spiraling into this dream at the Guggenheim. South Street Seaport Museum: just because and partly to do a little reconnaissance for an art project…
Did I say Walking? I walked from The Jane to MoMa– and back– and more and more each day. Walked in the rain. Walked where the blue sky came down to kiss the ruffling water and hullaballoo where free tastes of local, regional food and wines were shared with visitors to the Fulton Street Farmer’s Market…
But I also expressly visited the High Line: A come hither urban trail that beckons with a gentle presence in the midst of the tall city, planted with tenacious native grasses, flowers, trees…it’s a bit of reclaimed greenspace on an unused railway overpass. You can read a great timeline history on the site: timeline of High Line history.
Now, that’s redevelopment.
For those of you who have been following my frustrations and criticisms of our own local county government hand in what is known as redevelopment…well, you can assume this was a bit of a pilgrimage for me. I had to see something with my own eyes and determine that we deserve nothing less than this type of creativity in designing public space in Monroe County…
The Monroe County Redevelopment Commission meets Wednesday at the Monroe County Health Building on 119 7th Street, 5pm.
There is a hefty agenda that includes Karst Greenway funding discussions, Stormwater Utility discussions, and more money flowing issues for the Printpak company that recently broke ground on their tax abated property (literally before the granting of the abatement oddly enough…)
In the past I’ve blogged about redevelopment and economic development and often referenced the Good Jobs First website– and mentioned the sage observations about incentives made by writer Gregg Leroy. A friend sent me a link that is worth posting here again: Straying from Good Intentions
I’ve got more pictures from High Line…maybe a photo essay will be forthcoming this weekend if time permits. And, dear p-t-t readers, thanks much to those of you who wrote in to let me know it went offline briefly– sorry about that!