The High Line in New York City is open, drawing large crowds to a once sleepy section of the west side and earning rave reviews. The 1.45 mile former elevated rail line, abandoned since 1980, was transformed into an innovative public park and promenade thirty feet over the streets of Manhattan. It doesn't disappoint.
From Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 20th Street, the first section of the linear green space opened in June 2009 with views of the Hudson River and city skyline. It has been a runaway success. An estimated two million people have experienced the High Line, a mix of locals and camera-toting tourists.
Friends of the High Line, a community-based non-profit group, formed in 1999 when the relic was under threat of demolition. Friends of the High Line worked in partnership with the City of New York to preserve, fund the park's creation, and maintain the structure as a public amenity.
Construction of stairs, ramps, elevators, and installing drainage, paths, an amphitheater, hundreds of plant species, seating, and LED lighting in the first phase cost $86 million, a mix of public and private funding. 161 out of the 210 plant species in the design of the High Line are native to New York.
From Travel + Leisure magazine which called the High Line a "must see green American landmark":
The sculpted concrete walkways lined with meadow grasses aren't particularly high-tech or avant-garde, but there is something absolutely of-the-moment about the patchwork of old and new, man-made and organic. Here's a hulking, disused piece of our industrial heritage, rescued from demolition and reinvented as a work of contemporary design--design in which nature is seamlessly integrated into the architecture. It all makes for a surprising yet coherent whole: the High Line offers as good an indication as any of the shape and texture of the 21st century: recycled, green, and chic.
The High Line was designed by architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, landscape studio Field Operations, and the lighting design firm L'Observatoire.
When the High Line was built in the 1930s, the neighborhood was predominantly industrial. Now many of the warehouses and factories have been converted to art galleries, studios, stores, restaurants, and residences. New construction has followed.
Since a June 2005 rezoning, the area surrounding the park has seen a boom in new development, much of it cutting-edge architecture including buildings designed by 'starchitects' Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel. An estimated $900 million worth of offices, hotels and residential space is in various stages of development. The new Standard Hotel straddles the park.
The next section, due to open in 2010, will extend the park to 30th Street at a cost of $66 million. Eventually, the park will reach 34th Street, nearly 1.5 miles long, 30 to 60 feet wide, and covering eight acres.
Other cities including St. Louis, Philadelphia, Jersey City, Chicago, and Rotterdam are looking to copy New York's success by turning industrial relics into community public spaces.
Very cool project with very cool music....something Buffalo lacks the foresight to accomplish.
Unfortunately, I had a hoped for a while that Buffalo was on the upswing. After what I witnessed this summer, I think we are actually going in reverse. Buffalo is still very ghetto.
Furthermore, there is a going to be a healthy real estate correction coming soon to down town, especially the Elmwood Village! The properties downtown are over priced by at least 100-150k. The prices can not be sustained.
A few owners will walk away from their properties after their taxes are re-assesd and then everyone will realize that they grossly over paid...it has happened in almost every city of this country...Buffalo always lagged the rest of the market.
you heard it first here!
G
I don't agree that Buffalo will experience a real estate correction because we never had an astronomic increase in housing prices in the first place - just a gradual increase over the years.
Even in Elmwood village: you can get 3,500 square feet on Richmond for under $200k right now. Plenty of 2,500 square foot houses for $200-$300k, which I think is appropriate for an upscale urban neighborhood. There's an unbelievable mansion on Norwood for sale now for $330k... These are houses that would cost twice as much in similarly sized cities (not to mention what they would cost in NYC or SF or LA).
What is more likely is that house values will stay at their current values for +/- five years, then resume their lackluster-Buffalo growth of 1-2%/year.
What WOULD cause house prices to increase is lower property taxes, but I don't see that happening...