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August 5, 2006
Cities Grow Up, and Some See Sprawl
The NY Times
By Nick Confessore
Some call it "smart growth," others warn that it's "vertical sprawl." Whatever your view, "infill development" is gaining currency amongst city planners, politicians and well connected developers, and promises to bring higher density to "urban cores."
The article gives Atlantic Yards as an example:
Last month in Brooklyn, when a state development agency unveiled a long-awaited environmental impact study of the proposed Atlantic Yards project, critics complained that their worst fears had been realized.
The developer, Forest City Ratner Companies, wants to plop more than a dozen buildings as high as 62 stories onto 22 acres near downtown Brooklyn, where a mix of vacant lots, low-rise apartments, abandoned buildings and condominiums now sit. The developer says that the massive residential, office and arena complex would bring housing and jobs to a borough in need of both. According to the state study, however, the project would also create significant traffic and parking problems, require an extra school’s worth of classrooms, and cast shadows over nearby residential neighborhoods.
NoLandGrab: We're pretty sure that the "smart growth" movement hasn't considered the implications of 8.7 million square feet on 22 acres, which would comprise the densest residential community in the nation, by nearly a factor of two.
In the case of Atlantic Yards, it's not just a matter of "high density" over a transit hub, but rather "Shanghai density."
Posted by lumi at August 5, 2006 9:14 PM