Events

Panel: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York: The Oversuccessful City, Part 2: Neighborhood Character in the Face of Change

By Aaron Donovan

7:55 PM EDT on September 13, 2007

Every neighborhood in New York is in want or need of something that it does not have. Pursuit of convenience or a better life motivates a great deal of development and growth. And yet, as Jane Jacobs warned, the satisfaction of these desires — actually achieving the careful balance that defines a great urban neighborhood — itself can imperil existing communities, both physically and socially. How can neighborhoods guard against the pitfalls of oversuccess, not least of which are gentrification and displacement? Who gets to say “Enough!” and when? This panel will look at recent controversies over specific large developments and tangle with the complexities of development’s benefits and its considerable perils and inequities.

Matt Schuerman, New York Observer — moderator
Rev. Calvin Butts, Abyssinian Development Corporation
Errol Louis, New York Daily News
Ron Shiffman, Pratt Center
Michelle de le Uz, Fifth Avenue Committee

Aaron Donovan

Before he began blogging about land use and transportation, Aaron Donovan wrote The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund's annual fundraising appeal for three years and earned a master's degree in urban planning from Columbia. Since then, he has worked for nonprofit organizations devoted to New York City economic development. He lives and works in the Financial District, and sees New York's pre-automobile built form as an asset that makes New York unique in the United States, and as a strategic advantage that should be capitalized upon.

Events