Its interesting to see how the current situation of real estate came to be for New York City. The high demand for space has always been a problem for the city. The pace of growth hasn’t slowed down neither. At the beginning, the city was only limited to the Manhattan. As demand for valuable land space for industrial purposes increased, the city expanded to the five boroughs. With industry and businesses came residents, and the outer boroughs became populated. The personal gains of wealthy individuals were also huge factors for the expansion of the city outwards. These individuals supported plans that would cause land value to soar.  For example, the development of early subway lines not only facilitated the outward expansion of the city, but also caused properties along the subway line to develop. People who owned these lands prior to the construction of the subway benefited greatly.

Soon, the city ran out of empty space. New development can only come at the expense of displacing others, and this often targeted colored people and the poor. What were once unwanted industrial areas are now cheap, but valuable space for development. The Brooklyn waterfront is an example of this. Once the city rezoned the area and made parts of it ready for development, large apartment buildings were built. The neighborhood was greatly improved with businesses moving in. Parks were also built in some cases. However, as the areas along the Brooklyn waterfront was being developed and gentrified, the need for transportation arose. My group is the Future of Transportation and we are focusing on the city’s proposed streetcar line that will run along the Brooklyn waterfront. Unlike history, where subway lines led to development and expansion, the opposite is happening for the Brooklyn waterfront. The area is quickly developing even without transportation services. Instead, the transportation and services is following the development. The Brooklyn-Queens Connector would provide transportation along the Brooklyn waterfront. It is also worth mentioning that the addition of the streetcar line would also increase the property value of the surrounding areas as well. This would benefit the few companies who have businesses in those areas and who are also coincidentally supporting the creation of the streetcar line. It seems like the personal wealth of individuals and companies still play a huge role in the development and shaping of New York City.

Discussion question: Should the wealth/gains of individuals or institutions be involved in city planning? Is it justified when thousands of people are being displaced? But if they don’t develop the city, will the city ever move forward?