All posts by mohamedmohamed

Project Update 4/13- Mohamed Mohamed

Updates - Public Transportation

This week we are mainly focusing on the hardcore part of the research paper, which is gathering information and data from our research. We will bring our findings and try to fill our story with the data. We are also still deciding on determining the criteria for what the streetcar must meet in order to be considered ‘successful’. Mainly we hope to find helpful data that will coincide with our criteria which is listed in last week’s update.

Our task for Wednesday is to gather a lot of information, mobilize it, and find a place for it in our project. The data we collect will consist of qualitative and quantitative information. In order to effectively compare New York City with other cities that have running streetcars, we will have to compare some qualitative characteristics of the cities. We think this qualitative data is the most effective way of comparing the cities. One qualitative data is the population of each city. This is helpful because New York City has dense in population and in order to compare it we have to highly consider the density of population in other cities. Population will show whether or not it is appropriate to use a streetcar as a mode of public transportation. Also, another quantitative information that can be compared is the income of the families in the neighborhood around the areas of the streetcar. This data will show whether or not living around public transportation becomes more expensive. If so, does this mean that the neighborhoods around the BQX will face gentrification or zoning due to their low income? or maybe the data might show similar income in the neighborhoods around the streetcars in Hoboken and Baltimore as the income around the neighborhoods around the proposed BQX. Other useful qualitative information may include the amount of adults that use public transportation to work. This information can add on to our conclusions made by the population data gathered. All this qualitative information will be fetched using social explorer.

The quantitative data that will help with our project will be from the analysis of the proposed streetcars around cities like New Orleans, Cincinnati, and San Antonio. These cities are either in the proposal stage, construction stage or even expansion stage. It will be important to find out why these proposals were approved. This can be due to the lack of public transportation in the city, the dense population, or even for economic growth. We want to look at how the residents of the area reacted to the proposal of the streetcar. Was there any opposition? Why or why not? We will also look at what the people think about the streetcar now after it has been constructed. I will be in charge of gathering this qualitative data and will research this information using multiple cites.

Our idea for the Popular Education/Public Engagement Product is a brochure that unfolds into a flyer. The brochure will be regular sized printing paper and then folded into thirds so that the left and right flaps fold into each other. Each flap will contain information regarding the BQX. It will be information that is meant to give awareness about the BQX plan. When the two flaps are unfolded a map of the BQX proposed line would fill the page. The map will also have some information on it and it can be used as a flyer at the same time. Something similar to the attached image:

Sonia has e-mailed several community organizations, including Uprose in Sunset Park, Red hook Community Group, and Queens Community Board for Long Island City/Sunnyside, but no organization responded. We are still on the lookout for community meetings. For this week Sonia has emailed the people developing the BQX and people financing the BQX plan. In the meantime however, we are going to conduct interviews with people in affected communities. Jeffrey has conducted fieldwork by gathering quotes from residents around the neighborhood where the BQX line is proposed. These field notes and field analysis will be used as our primary data for our project. Jeffrey has also shared quotes from the online news outlets, including the New York Times.

After researching the last three weeks, Patrick will take all he has collected and start to put it into a cohesive report. He will have census data, such as public transportation ridership in Baltimore, median household incomes for neighborhoods around the Light Rail routes, and research whether there is any correlation between the data. Another that he will look into is making an objective call as to whether the light rail system was/is a success in Baltimore. It seems like the economics surrounding the light rail say one thing, while people living with the rail would say otherwise. To help him with this, he has begun reading two different reports. One focuses on light rail transportation and Transit Oriented Development and the other is a case study on the economic development impacts of light rail transportation in Baltimore. These two sources will also help get back to our key concepts of the future of public transportation, how it affects neighborhoods and how it is used as a means of urban planning.

Adrian is in charge of comparing the success/failure of the streetcar in Hoboken New Jersey with the proposed line BQX. So far, he has found that the Hoboken line has served a large number of people, encouraged development, increased access to employment and housing and allowed decreased dependence on cars.

As Edwin begins drafting the White paper, we will start contributing to it. Patrick will contribute a mini report of his findings, data and how to relate it to the BQX.  The public education piece is a different story. Its focus will be strictly on the BQX. Adrian will work on drafting Hudson-Bergen line in NJ section for the white paper with a focus on how it addresses the criterion we established for a successful transportation project. I will include why the streetcar proposals in New Orleans, Cincinnati, and San Antonio were approved and whether they faced opposition. Then I will compare that with the proposal of the BQX. Sonia will include the community contact findings while Jeffrey will include the field work analysis into the white paper.

BQX and Susan Fainstein

Clarifying Key Concepts

This week’s reading by Susan Frainstein focuses on urban justice goals. Mainly she breaks down her urban planning method into three categories, democracy, diversity, and equity. She also points out that planning theory is flawed because it doesn’t take the urban space that it affects into context.

For democracy she says that decisions in shaping the city should not be made by only a handful of social welfare workers and city planners. Their decisions usually do not take into consideration the opinions and interests of residents and therefore causes a dispute. She suggests a democratic approach towards urban planning so that the opinions of those that are usually not heard can finally be heard and taken into consideration. Her argument for diversity is yet a complex one. She first justifies why the term diversity is best used in this context. Then she explains that her idea of urban diversity is such as the ideas presented by Jane Jacobs; that the city should have more diverse structures and streets. She argues that “urban diversity stimulates creativity, which in turn causes economic growth.” Finally for equity she explains that it is mostly spotted in housing policies.

The proposal of the BQX can be related to this reading. Again, the argument that the BQX is focused solely for economic growth of the city and does not take into consideration how the lives of the residents around the area will be affected can be pointed out. The BQX can be seen as a tool for urban planning. I think Susan Frainstein’s ideas should be implemented for this proposal before it is carried out. Meaning, that city officials and planners should look into how the neighborhoods around the proposed line will be affected and take their opinions into consideration. Also they should question whether or not the BQX will help diversify the city. Finally, they should make a conclusion on whether or not this proposal is just based on this feedback then construct the line or not based on their conclusion.

The Contradiction Communities enCounter

Clarifying Key Concepts

The contradiction that communities are an essential necessity for the function of the economic system but at the same time this system is making it difficult for communities to prosper and grow, is highlighted in the reading. The systems priorities are not on meeting the needs of the people but rather on economic growth. This contradiction can be seen through the BQX proposal by mayor De Blasio. The communities around the proposed streetcar line pay an important role in developing the city’s economy. At the same time, this streetcar line might be harmful to the communities because it may increase the rent in that area which leads to gentrification and zoning.

The BQX is planned to be built between sunset park in Brooklyn and Astoria queens and running along the Upper New York Bay and East River (see attached image). The claim is that this method of transportation will be built to help some underserved neighborhoods in the area. However, this argument can relate to the reading regarding the contradiction communities face. Although it might help some underserved areas, its main focus is to prosper the economy of the city. This part of the city is already undergoing change and gentrification. This streetcar proposal will only help this change to happen quicker. It will cause more gentrification because rent will increase due to the convenient location of the streetcar to these underserved area. Although this streetcar will bring in more revenue to the city, it will destroy many communities that will not be able to afford living in such a high rent neighborhood.

 

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Time to ACT UP!

Uncategorized

ACT UP is another great example of the collision between the people and the authorities. I will look at this collision and compare it to the growth machine that runs the city. In the growth machine the real estate industry, residents, government and the working class contribute to keep it running. However, only a small number of individuals have a say of where to steer it. The majority who contribute most to its function have little or no say in deciding its destination. If this majority finally acts up and demands a change, change will occur. Evidence can be seen by the ACT UP organization that were successful in making the city pay more attention to the AIDS crisis starting in the late 1980s.

ACT UP “ have achieved concrete changes in medical and scientific research, insurance, law, health care delivery, graphic design, and introduced new and effective methods for political organizing”. They did this by going head on with the authorities that either misunderstood the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic or just did not care. In the documentary “How to Survive a Plague” we see some of their demonstrations and how they occupied City Hall. Their huge number and their civil disobedience was very intimidating and effective. Not a lot a people will can be as brave as them when fighting for a cause. However, there is an instance in the documentary where one of the protestors said that he is HIV-positive so he has no other choice. Many of these protestors had nothing to lose, they were already waiting for their death, getting arrested was not so scary for them. This is another reason why they were so successful in their demonstrations.

I am curious to know what would happen if another housing crisis that is worse than that in 2006 occurs. What if it gets so bad that millions of people living in the city cannot afford to pay their rent. Will they use the tactis of ACT UP to fight with authority? Will they be successful because they “have no other choice”? Can people really challenge the largest growth machine in the world and be successful? I hope no such crisis occurs, but we do not have to wait for a crisis to occur to demand change.

The Real Estate Industry and Capitalism

The Capital of Capital

The real estate industry is the epitome of Capitalism. In the beginning of chapter 2 of Tom Angotti’s book New York for Sale: Community Planning Confronts Global Real Estate, Angotti quotes Lao Tzo: “There is no greater disaster than greed.” The ultimate goal of many large industries such as real estate is essentially ‘gain more money’. Many of the times large industries and corporations will do anything in order to gain more money. This may include the destruction of communities, neighborhoods, and even lives. As long as the stock prices keep going up these industries will continue to justify their actions. Not to sound pessimistic, there are also benefits that come from capitalism. Truly the economic freedom of capitalism also provides for political freedom. Capitalism also offers efficiency as well as economic growth for those that are willing to work hard. However, overall what we notice in the real estate industry  is that the quality of life of the residents is undermined so that a select few can gain more.

The reading by Tom Angotti displays exactly what the real estate industry is all about. The real estate industry claim to bring money into neighborhoods by building businesses in poorer neighborhoods and therefore provide jobs. Unfortunately though these jobs are low paying and most run out of business. The previous post “The BQX and the Real Estate Industry” by Patrick Blake puts it well, truly “money is not really being brought in; rather, opportunities are being opened for a select few”. Furthermore, many of the real estate companies are private. We notice how they utilize this power in order to keep gentrifying New York City and keep it segregated. They pressure certain groups to remain at certain locations all in order to keep property values from dropping. They ultimately refuse to take into consideration the communities they harm by doing so.

The real estate industry is led by greed.

Discussion Questions: How can greed in such an important and detrimental position shape the future of a city? Can it be dangerous? Why? Why not?

This is the problem: response to the prompt

Future of Public Transportation, What's the Problem? - Public Transportation

Our research problem is focused on questioning whether or not the BQX is the best way to supply transportation to underserved areas. Brooklyn waterfront is underserved in terms of transportation. There are also very few brooklyn-queens connections. furthermore, streetcars once existed on NYC streets. When cars and subways came along they made streetcars obsolete. As neighborhoods changed from industrial to commercial or residential, street cars also had less of a reason to exist. However cars and subways have cause overcrowding a major issue.

Street cars sound cool and it’s being funded by tech startups and other companies. These companies also have existing investments in neighborhoods serviced by the proposed BQX. These companies favoring the line has influenced politicians to advance with the proposal. However, the line would bring gentrification to the areas served, increasing property value. In name, it sounds like a good project. In actuality, there are many ulterior motives to this project. There may be issues regarding the displacement of people living in the neighborhood. “Red Tape” may hold up a lot of the process.  

We have some knowledge from experience due to members who live by the proposed line. We also have some sort of knowledge on the cultural background of the communities around the proposed line are like. Our academic knowledge comes from the Mayor’s website which outlines the plan and the project’s benefits/growth that would result from its construction. It laos includes the projected costs and sources of funding.

We seek to understand whether this proposal is even going to happen. What is the schedule like? We also want to understand the safety measures of the streetcar? Furthermore, NYC is an advance city therefore we want to know how technologically advanced are the streetcars that are proposed.

Immigrants and Religious Freedom

Situating North American Cities

The reading gave me a quick refresher of what the United States history is all about. In the colonial era, we get a good understanding of how the nation was established. Migrants from around Europe left behind almost everything they had and came to the Americas. Some for economic purposes and others in search for a religious haven. The essence and the growth of these great cities across North America was due to the diligence, better life seeking individuals that migrated.

It is sad to see that in modern day we hear rhetoric in our political system that promotes bigotry and hatred towards certain religious groups and certain immigrants. These folks are running to become the leaders of this nation, this nation that is the foundation of immigrants and religious freedom. To see how viciously they criticize and attack certain groups because they are either immigrants or have a different religious practice and be able to get away with should spark an outrage by the people. Such politicians should notice shunning and shut down by the American people. However, the sad reality is that many agree with them. Most are ignorant of the fact that their ancestors can be traced back to European immigrants that may have fled for religious freedom. How can such people oppose and hate immigrants and a group of people that practice a different religion, when the establishment of this nation was by immigrants that seeked religious freedom?