December 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 52

URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE

Some of the estimated 7 million visitors per
year enjoying the views and the vibe of New
York City's High Line.

The High Line
A trail that might never have
been built is now estimated to be
responsible for $2 billion in impact.
It is difficult to believe that little
more than 10 years ago New York
City's Meatpacking District was
a somewhat depopulated urban
area with minimal economic activity and almost zero social vitality.
While conditions may have been
ripe for revitalization due to a zoning change that enabled redevelopment, one catalytic structure gave
an identity to the profound change
taking place: the development of
the High Line.
The High Line is one of the most
significant and transformative urban park projects in a generation.
The project has garnered design
awards and gained international acclaim. It is the progenitor of
creatively repurposed urban infrastructure that provides recreation,
stimulates redevelopment and gives
an iconic identity to a city. And, it
has produced extraordinary economic benefits. According to sev50

Parks & Recreation

eral estimates, the High Line has
created more than $2 billion in economic activity since it was opened.
Many other cities are now looking
at, or have already begun, reconstruction of abandoned or underutilized
industrial and transportation infrastructure to create new public open
space. The Atlanta BeltLine, Buffalo
Bayou in Houston, Trinity River Park
in Dallas, The 606 in Chicago, The
Underline in Miami, Philadelphia's
Rail Park, Waterfront Seattle and the
11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, D.C., to name just a few of the
emerging projects, are all looking to
unlock the potential of reimagined industrial and transportation infrastructure and the extraordinary benefits it
can bring to their cities.
One of the greatest challenges for
these projects is not raising capital or
establishing the public-private partnerships necessary to complete them,
but rather how to deal with the social
impacts that these projects inevitably
bring. Social equity impacts, once far
down the list of important priorities,
have surged to the forefront of the

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most important considerations for
virtually every project now in planning or under construction.
Social equity was not a top priority for the founders of the High
Line or for New York City. The
conversion of the abandoned elevated West Side rail line was proposed by Robert Hammond and
Joshua David, area residents who
became champions for saving this
peculiar industrial remnant, along
with a fledgling group called the
Friends of the High Line.
Adrian Benepe, senior VP and
director of city park development
for The Trust for Public Land
(TPL) and the former commissioner of parks and recreation in New
York City when the High Line was
conceived, says, " Social equity was
not an issue that most people considered. Largely speaking, the High
Line does not go through a residential neighborhood. The city and the
proponents of the trail were more
concerned at the time with just saving this infrastructure and turning
it into a park. "
Benepe says the notion of the park
started as a kind of rebellion. The city
was absolutely against the idea of
the trail. Demolition crews were in
place to tear down the rail line, and
the advocates had to sue the city to
keep it from ripping the line apart.
" The High Line emerged more from
a park equity frame of reference than
a social equity perspective, " Benepe
points out. " This was one of the worst
districts in the city in terms of park access, especially before the creation of
the Hudson River Park.
" Certain parks can hasten gentrification, " Benepe says, " but I don't
think you can blame parks solely
for gentrification. In this case, much
more powerful forces were in play.
The rezoning of Chelsea had a much
bigger impact on future development

December 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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