Kirsten, you have once again written a very thought-provoking blog. After reading all the blogs for this week, yours stood out to me again. I really enjoyed the way you narrated the evolution of your thoughts as you analyzed each reading. You presented your thoughts really nicely and clearly.

I agree that it became very easy to follow long and agree with the considerations in “ A Region at Risk: The Third Regional Plan for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Metropolitan Area” by Robert D. Yaro and Tony Hiss; it seems as though everyone jumps behind a cause the moment someone mentions education for the children. I agree that the turmoil the city was in was clearly exaggerated at the time. I also agree that this realization did not occur during the “A Region at Risk: The Third Regional Plan for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Metropolitan Area” readings, but during Professor Larson’s “Planning and the Narrative of Threat” from Building Like Moses With Jacobs in Mind: Contemporary Planning in New York City.

After reading “Planning and the Narrative of Threat,” I, like Kirsten, was able to realize that the “the sky is falling” style claims were purposely shaped that way to inspire fear in the city’s residents so that the plan could be approved. I will acknowledge the truth in Kirsten’s comment that the Third Regional Plan brought up some valid issues, “such as we need improved schools, better regulation of land, and an economy that can keep up with the rest of the world” (Baker), I can’t help but feel that the way the planners tried to sell the Third Regional Plan cheapened the points and diminished their integrity; I believe that people should be given accurate and complete information before they can support a plan. This is not to say, however, that I would not like to see some aspects of the plan succeed, I just wish a more honest approach was taken.

I liked that Kirsten brought up the U.S. Business Bureau of Labor Statistics information. It helped put the considerations from the reading into perspective for today, especially being that she wrote about her struggle to keep in mind that the “A Region at Risk” readings were from 1996. I found it particularly relevant, being that my economics class covers weekly updates about jobs and unemployment rates in the United States. From what I understand, the unemployment rates have decreased since the beginning of the semester and last year, so perhaps that supports what Kirsten was arguing about hope for New York City’s future.