Hudson Yards: Visualizing Urban Development Projects

VISUAL COMMUNICATION: Last time I was in New York I wanted to walk the High Line, an old "elevated rail structure on the West Side of Manhattan" that was created in the 1930s and finally abandoned in 1980. Ever since it was abandoned, it's become a sort of unofficial garden / open space that's actually pretty accessible to anyone who wants to visit it. I've always loved old abandoned buildings and structures (who doesn't?) and I especially love those that are a bit arcane even though they're right there in plain sight.







Unfortunately I didn't get to walk the High Line. The fenced-in truck yard where the elevated line comes to ground level had this creepy semi truck driver just hanging out, staring at me as I walked by about a half dozen times. Since he wasn't moving, I decided to save it for a later date. While I was walking around this 'hood though, I couldn't help but notice how under developed it was. Here I was, only a few minutes from Madison Square Garden in the middle of the day, surrounded by a quiet train yard and not a person in sight. Creepy.



Anyway, today I found this great proposal that would develop this area into a beautiful new area of the city. I couldn't help but fall in love with the ideas, in part because the New York City Government has done such a great job communicating their proposals for the area. The website for the Hudson Yards Development is wonderfully put together, with plenty of graphics to give you a real feel for the project. Every city should be so lucky. Ok, suddenly I realllly want to play SimCity.











(High Line photo by J. Sternfeld)

(Hudson Yards story via Gothamist)