In my tour of New York Open Houses in between Occupying Wall Street I toured the High Line Park. The new Tribeca. The New York Times today had an article discussing the most recent generous donation to the park's fundraising efforts to finish what is perhaps an elegant statement about the challenges and successes of public and private partnerships when done right. The gift, which will help build up the park’s endowment and pay for the design of the last section, is the single largest donation ever made to a New York City park, according to city officials. MORE >>

Today's New York Times has a great article on a Pre-fab project used for student housing. Squeezing Costs, Builders Take New Look at Prefab By RONDA KAYSEN New York Times, June 15, 2011 PHILADELPHIA — A package arrived on a shabby north Philadelphia block in January 2010, wrapped in Tyvek and measuring 55 feet long and 16 feet wide. Yes,” said Christopher Sharples, a principal at SHoP Architects, which is designing a possible 34-story prefab tower for the developer Forest City Ratner at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn. And that is Fab-tastic! Is the desire? MORE >>

The farmer's markets that populate a city during the season are expanding but the vendors are not. Our suburban sprawl thanks to the unreal costs of housing in urban centers and the building boom has removed much farm able land that once was adjacent to our cities. But ironically what no one wants to do is look at these cities that are so badly decayed - such as Detroit, Cleveland or St Louis and turn them into growing space. The sustainable city will have to address that and re-think what kinds of work and jobs will be needed to maintain the population. farmland. MORE >>

New Boards and new Municipalities and new Government plans that change every few years also add to the mix. They reward those who obey the rules, memorize the formulas and pay deference to authority. In New York, principals have been given every incentive, both financial and in terms of control, to replace experienced teachers with 22-year-old untenured rookies. They use merit pay in which teachers whose students do well on bubble tests will receive more money and teachers whose students do not do so well on bubble tests will receive less money. MORE >>

New York City (including the outer boroughs)gained only 127,000 in residents since the last Census. If there is ever a city that demonstrates the current two tier economy its this one. If you cannot afford to sustain your family on what is middle class wages in a major urban city the long term consequences it means for our cities are more Detroit's, bigger unwieldy suburbs and decline in City Schools and services. Below is an article from today's New York Times discussing the further decline of wages and the affect it has on family life. MORE >>