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Problem, research strategy, and findings: Cities today face considerable land use, environmental, and economic challenges resulting from policies prioritizing automobiles and requiring ample off-street parking. In an effort to influence travel behavior and reduce parking supply, Buffalo (NY) adopted the Green Code in 2017. This zoning code reform repealed minimum parking requirements citywide and provided a "natural experiment" to investigate effects of parking deregulation among 36 major developments in its first 2 years. Our research produced two key findings. First, 47% of major developments included fewer parking spaces than previously permissible, suggesting earlier minimum parking requirements may have been excessive. Second, mixed-use developments introduced 53% fewer parking spaces than would have been required by earlier minimum requirements as developers readily took advantage of the newfound possibility to include less off-street parking. Aggregate parking spaces among single-use projects exceeded the earlier minimum requirements, suggesting developers of such projects were less motivated to deviate from accepted practices in determining the parking supply for urban development. Takeaway for practice: Eliminating parking minimums can reduce unnecessary parking supply and encourage development constrained by excessive minimum requirements. Land use, location, and transportation demand initiatives affect the quantity of off-street parking supplied in response to market conditions. Our findings suggest mixed-use developers are likely to take advantage of the ability to provide less parking in highly accessible locations. Though many developers quickly pivot to the newfound possibilities of providing fewer parking spaces, others continue to meet earlier requirements. Cities of all types stand to benefit from undoing constraining parking policies of the past and allowing developers to transform parking lots to "higher uses.". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing up in a shifting urban environment during the major socioeconomic transition in the Bronx (NY) in the 1950s and 1960s, my interests in neighborhood change peaked with the changes in housing, the impact of urban renewal, the need for more open-space recreation, the arrival of the interstate highways, and the new faces of the population. These childhood observations led me to pursue an urban planning career. I have had experiences in a variety of functional areas across the tri-state metropolitan area of Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. In striving to be a more complete planner, I added depth to my career as an adjunct academician, leader in APA/AICP, and community volunteer practicing what I preached. I learned that these various roles and experiences related to one another and advanced my understanding of urban planning in a synergistic way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem, research strategy, and findings:A number of studies have examined the property value impacts of historic preservation, but few have considered how preservation shapes neighborhood composition. In this study, we ask whether the designation of historic districts contributes to changes in the racial composition and socioeconomic status of New York City neighborhoods. Bringing together data on historic districts with a panel of census tracts, we study how neighborhoods change after the designation of a historic district. We find little evidence of changes in the racial composition of a neighborhood, but report a significant increase in socioeconomic status following historic designation. Takeaway for practice:Our research offers empirical evidence on changes in the racial composition and socioeconomic status of neighborhoods following the designation of a historic district. It suggests that historic preservation can contribute to economic revitalization in urban neighborhoods, but that these changes risk making neighborhoods less accessible to lower-income residents. Planners should consider ways that the city government can work to preserve the highly valued amenities of historic neighborhoods while mitigating the potential for residential displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Local governments’ minimum street-width standards may force developers to oversupply, and residents to pay excessively for, on-street parking in residential neighborhoods. Such oversupply is often presumed to both encourage car ownership and reduce housing affordability, although little useful evidence exists either way. This article examines the impact of street-parking supply on the car ownership of households with off-street parking in the New York City area. The off- and on-street parking supply for each household was measured through Google Street View and Bing Maps. The impact of on-street parking on car ownership levels was then estimated in an innovative multivariate model. The unique set-up of the case study ensures 1) the weak endogeneity between parking supply and car ownership and 2) the low correlation between off-street and on-street parking supply, two major methodological challenges of the study. Results show that free residential street parking increases private car ownership by nearly 9%; that is, the availability of free street parking explains 1 out of 11 cars owned by households with off-street parking. Takeaway for practice: These results offer support for community street standards that make on-street parking supply optional. They also suggest the merits of leaving the decisions of whether, and how many, on-street parking spaces to provide in new residential developments to private markets rather than regulations. Research support: This project was supported by grants from the University Transportation Research Center (Region 2) and the Wagner School Faculty Research Fund. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Problem: Policymakers and community development practitioners view increasing subsidized owner-occupied housing as a mechanism to improve urban neighborhoods, but little research studies the impact of such investments on community amenities. Purpose: We examine the impact of subsidized owner-occupied housing on the quality of local schools and compare them to the impacts of city investments in rental units. Methods: Using data from the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), we estimate three main sets of regressions, exploring student characteristics, school resources, and school outcomes. Results and conclusions: The completion of subsidized owner-occupied housing is associated with a decrease in schools' percentage of free-lunch eligible students, an increase in schools' percentage of White students, and, controlling for these compositional changes, an increase in scores on standardized reading and math exams. By contrast, our results suggest that investments in rental housing have little, if any, effect. Takeaway for practice: Policies promoting the construction of subsidized owner-occupied housing have solidified in local governments around the country. Our research provides reassurance to policymakers and planners who are concerned about the spillover effects of subsidized, citywide investments beyond the households being directly served. It suggests that benefits from investments in owner occupancy may extend beyond the individual level, with an increase in subsidized owner-occupancy bringing about improvements in neighborhood school quality. Research support: None. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: In the last two decades, urban economic development has shifted its focus from industrial recruitment to talent and human capital, including art and culture. Many have argued that talented people are drawn to artistic and cultural amenities, but few have examined art and culture as a production system and drawn meaningful insights for urban planning and economic development based on understanding its inner workings. Purpose: This article looks closely at the mechanisms that structure and drive the cultural economy and suggests possible avenues for cultural economic development and policymaking based on these mecha- nisms. I focus on the ways cultural producers obtain jobs, advance their careers, gain value for their goods and services, and interact with each other. Methods: I conducted 80 interviews with cultural producers, cultural gatekeepers, and owners and managers of entertainment venues these groups frequent. Results and conclusions: I find that not only are artistic and cultural producers densely agglomerated, but that key social mechanisms structure and inform this clustered production system. These in- dustries depend on unique kinds of social interaction, from nightlife to gallery open- ings, to thrive. This is more than just fun and games, and is critical to the operation of this economic sector. Takeaway for practice: Cultural pro- ducers rely heavily on their social lives to advance their careers, obtain jobs, and gen- erate value for their goods, so that the local arts social milieu is critical to the cultural economy. Cultural producers also tend to cross-fertilize, collaborating to create goods and services, review each other's products, and establish new careers, meaning the ability to live and work in close proximity to one another is important. Finally, a large concentration of creative people and an active cultural milieu has made New York culture a known brand. While New York is unique, the cultural life of other cities and regions can also be economic development assets. Places can strategically cultivate the social milieus that are most conducive to the production of art and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health disparities that affect whole communities may involve factors like housing quality that lie at least partly within planners' realm of policy influence. This article demonstrates a link between housing and childhood asthma. The magnitude of the childhood asthma epidemic in Harlem in New York City and the commitment of engaged community partners led to an interdisciplinary, participatory, and multifaceted approach to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Harlem Children's Zone Asthma Initiative. Here we present the first year's data on environmental triggers in the homes of program participants, showing that intensive, community-based programs can reduce both home environmental triggers and adverse childhood asthma outcomes. This provides an example of a community-wide public health intervention that informs public policy and planning, and may provide a sustainable model for reducing childhood asthma in impoverished communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses planning for New York as a world city. Mobility in a world city; Employment; Housing; Service delivery; World city initiatives versus local or neighborhood needs.

Offers a critical analysis of New York City's Fair Share criteria governing the locating of city facilities. Challenges to the American Planning Association's decision to give its highest award to the Department of City Planning for the Fair Share criteria; Obstacles that thwarted the city's attempt at successfully legislating siting fairness.

Examines the conceptual origins of New York City's Fair Share criteria designed to further fair distribution among communities of the burdens and benefits associated with city facilities. Adoption of a the 1989 revision of the New York City Charter that address the problem posed by not-in-my-back-yard syndrome; Siting process; Obstacles to regulating fairness.

In 1936, New York City adopted a new municipal charter establishing an independent planning commission to defend and promote the public interest in the city's physical development. Rexford G. Tugwell, its first chairman, tested the full range of the commission's authority by attempting to direct the course of public housing programs, to change the character of zoning regulations, and to implement a master plan. Dealt successive defeats by federal bureaucrats, real estate interests, and Robert Moses, Tugwell resigned in 1941, taking with him any possibility that comprehensive planning would have a future in New York - or in the nation at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]