I really enjoyed reading your blog post Mikki! The way you contrasted Bloomberg’s views on rezoning with those of de Blasio offered a sense of relevancy. I was able to relate to the readings much more than before, given the articles and sources you quoted.

As you discussed, Larson emphasizes the need for New York to plan for future growth. Per your post, finding a balance between sustaining growth and preserving fair standards of living posed a challenge then as well as today. While I do agree with you that a lot of Bloomberg’s actions seemed to be motivated by political interest, I’m not sure it was exclusively so. Larson mentions the strategic tactics employed by developers in circumventing regulation and building where they wanted to. I also think that much of Bloomber-era zoning policy was predicated on economic growth and foresight of what a future city should look like.

A New York Times article published a few years ago explores some of Bloomberg’s considerations in suggesting various zoning laws. For instance, the push for rezoning in Midtown to allow higher towers was a topic that underwent a lot of controversy. The article emphasizes, however, that global hotspots like Hong Kong and Tokyo continue to construct rising skyscrapers and attract corporate tenants. Surely a city like New York must continue to grow at a speed similar, if not faster than, other world leaders? That said, I recognize and agree there must be a balance between matching the growth displayed by other cities across the world while accommodating residents too. Aside from the economic considerations, the article discusses growth in the number of workers. With a larger workforce comes concern for transportation, sanitation, and public safety. The administration is quoted as supporting the allowance for rezoning and increasing skyscraper heights in order to meet these potential concerns.

I think you did a great job of applying the readings to today, and showing how applicable rezoning is. A continuous focus in class is what we think a future city should be like, and how we can plan today to realize that future vision. For me, your post revitalized the question we considered in seminar a few weeks ago- how can New York accommodate future growth while sustaining living conditions of its inhabitants? I thought about this question a bit differently than I did beforehand, when our attention was turned toward Jacobs’ and Moses’ beliefs. I’m not sure I’ve figured out what exactly I think, but considering this big-picture question in different contexts has certainly helped clarify a lot!

 

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/nyregion/mayor-bloomberg-pushes-a-plan-to-let-midtown-soar.html?_r=0