Remember how Atlantic Yards was the elephant in the room when Mayor Mike Bloomberg's PlaNYC 2030 was presented last April, given that it went conspicuously unmentioned in the housing chapter?
Well, city officials discussing the sustainability plan keep offering rhetoric counter to the sequence behind Atlantic Yards. The issue came up at the annual conference Saturday of the Historic Districts Council, with keynote speaker Rohit Aggarwala, who directs the Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability.
Itās all linked together
The plan initially was to address population growth and land use, but quickly grew. ā[We began] what we thought was going to be a strategic land use plan," Aggarwala said, "but we quickly realized: you canāt think about land use in a city without thinking about transportation. And you canāt think about transportation without thinking about air quality.ā
The chain connects to energy, water, and climate change. āIf we solve one problem the wrong way, itāll set us back on the others,ā he said.
Of course, Atlantic Yards was approved by the state without any transportation improvements beyond game-day tweaks, and even supporters think congestion relief is necessary for the an arena to have a chance at the site.
Democratic process
Aggarwala noted that, from 1980-2000, city was growing back to a size--8 million people--it had once reached, so the housing stock, parks, schools could accommodate the population. Now, he said, growth means that āour neighborhoods are going to be fundamentally more crowded. The question is how do do that wisely.ā
āIf weāre going to do smart growth, it has to be very smart growth,ā Aggarwala said. As a basic rule, density should go near transit, and the Atlantic Yards footprint is near a lot of transit, especially at the western edge. But no one is calling Atlantic Yards "very smart growth."
āWhatās the balance between growth and preservation?ā Aggarwala asked rhetorically. āThatās a judgment call. Thatās why you have to have a democratic process where this discussion takes place.ā
Because Atlantic Yards bypassed the cityās Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, there were no votes by the City Planning Commission and City Council, nor advisory votes by the three affected community boards.
AY unbalanced
Planner John Shapiro noted that the Bloomberg administration had advanced a succession of upzonings and downzonings, both fostering and capping development. āIn their view,ā he said, ā[establishment of] a historic district is a downzoning.ā
āUpzoning is not necessarily balanced development, as I think Atlantic Yards points out,ā said Shapiro, who used a too-casual shorthand for what would be a state override of zoning.
āAnd development can be terrible, as Atlantic Yards points out, for adjacent historic districts," added Shapiro, who worked on the response to the Atlantic Yards Draft Environmenal Impact Statement for the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods.
Well, city officials discussing the sustainability plan keep offering rhetoric counter to the sequence behind Atlantic Yards. The issue came up at the annual conference Saturday of the Historic Districts Council, with keynote speaker Rohit Aggarwala, who directs the Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability.
Itās all linked together
The plan initially was to address population growth and land use, but quickly grew. ā[We began] what we thought was going to be a strategic land use plan," Aggarwala said, "but we quickly realized: you canāt think about land use in a city without thinking about transportation. And you canāt think about transportation without thinking about air quality.ā
The chain connects to energy, water, and climate change. āIf we solve one problem the wrong way, itāll set us back on the others,ā he said.
Of course, Atlantic Yards was approved by the state without any transportation improvements beyond game-day tweaks, and even supporters think congestion relief is necessary for the an arena to have a chance at the site.
Democratic process
Aggarwala noted that, from 1980-2000, city was growing back to a size--8 million people--it had once reached, so the housing stock, parks, schools could accommodate the population. Now, he said, growth means that āour neighborhoods are going to be fundamentally more crowded. The question is how do do that wisely.ā
āIf weāre going to do smart growth, it has to be very smart growth,ā Aggarwala said. As a basic rule, density should go near transit, and the Atlantic Yards footprint is near a lot of transit, especially at the western edge. But no one is calling Atlantic Yards "very smart growth."
āWhatās the balance between growth and preservation?ā Aggarwala asked rhetorically. āThatās a judgment call. Thatās why you have to have a democratic process where this discussion takes place.ā
Because Atlantic Yards bypassed the cityās Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, there were no votes by the City Planning Commission and City Council, nor advisory votes by the three affected community boards.
AY unbalanced
Planner John Shapiro noted that the Bloomberg administration had advanced a succession of upzonings and downzonings, both fostering and capping development. āIn their view,ā he said, ā[establishment of] a historic district is a downzoning.ā
āUpzoning is not necessarily balanced development, as I think Atlantic Yards points out,ā said Shapiro, who used a too-casual shorthand for what would be a state override of zoning.
āAnd development can be terrible, as Atlantic Yards points out, for adjacent historic districts," added Shapiro, who worked on the response to the Atlantic Yards Draft Environmenal Impact Statement for the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods.
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