Elizabeth St Garden and Pitting Two Needs Against Each Other
I find myself torn on the debate over Elizabeth Street Garden in Lower Manhattan.
You have a clear argument on both sides.
We need more green space in cities. As I’ve written about, green space does everything from cooling the air and reducing flood risks, to supporting physical and mental health.
We also need more housing, especially affordable housing, in cities. People need homes. A developer plans to build a 123-unit building for low-income seniors where Elizabeth Street Garden is today.
I find myself asking why we have to pit two things against each other.
Yes, cities require difficult choices about land use. But “affordable housing vs. green space” isn’t the right question.
New York dedicates vast amounts of land to a use that harms the environment and houses zero people: car infrastructure.
According to Transportation Alternatives’ 25×25 report, repurposing just 25 percent of current driving and parking space could create more than 13 Central Parks worth of land.
We could convert surface parking lots into housing. We could make more car-free streets, centered around pedestrians and filled with green space.
We could have both the housing and the green space. But we need take a closer look at how we’ve sacrificed both to accommodate cars.
