NYC has great spaces for connection with nature.. from local ones like Washington Sq Pk, Union Sq Pk, Jefferson Market Garden, Madison Sq Pk, Bryant Pk, Gramercy Pk, Hudson River Pk, the Highline, Stuyvesant Cove, Battery Pk, .Central Pk, MOMA Sculpture Gdn, many pocket parks. etc to ones farther out like Brooklyn Bridge Pk, Fort Tryon Pk, NY Botanical, Brooklyn Botanical, Wave Hill, Central Pk Conservancy Gdn, Prospect Pk, Snug Harbor’s many parks and gardens (the Chinese Scholar’s garden, Tuscan Garden, Secret Garden, Allee and Healing gardens there are very special)

This is my feeling as well, Erik. A better planning model could be tighter lots with better use of acreage that all have better access not only to transit, but communal public space/parks.

You’re right as well that no one wants to be told what they can’t do–and I’m not sure that’s even the goal anyway. I’d hope that we can just find enough people to honestly ask the question to themselves: I was going to build this, but why? Is there another option that satisfies all of my aspirations without a lot of these externalities? Even getting people to ask the question would be a big step forward.

We do these things for the suburban dream but it doesn’t get used like it did nor how you would think it would – that’s just reality. Most ‘burb parents are afraid to let their kids go out in most situations nowadays due to various concerns. So why a private yard? A park would actually have more eyes watching in case of incident.

Having to own a mower (riding or not), trimmer (because the edges have to look good) and everything else associated with a lawn is yet another economic barrier holding people back from moving up financially. Add the gas, oil, chemicals and it’s even more detrimental to the environment…

Now that we’ve built this environment, I definitely like to see that it looks good and expect my neighbors to keep up their end of this suburban arrangement. We could all argue it’s one’s Constitutional right to blah blah blah about all of this. So there’s the crux of it all. I don’t see a solution just popping up because there’s so much money at stake and so many “traditions” at stake.

Me personally, I’d love to just see things reduced and let some of our green edges grow instead of continuing to build and fuel the madness.

As always there is certainly a more sustainable option than what most of us are currently practicing: organic lawn care, with an electric lawn mower powered by PVs, and watered with a rain barrel or greywater system. However, what’s the harder switch for people and what leaves us in a better place?

Also, when it comes to critters getting access to the house itself, we have a number of ways to protect against that (many of which we utilize anyway) like insect barriers and creating a tight connection to the foundation. There’s also no reason why any solution can’t be held back from the house as well, as many lawns are. Gravel paths, french drains, or garden beds would all provide a spatial separation from a yard that was allowed to be a bit more “free”.

Now the ‘Tube” is essentially a rip-off.
My father worked or the tube and he said it was possible to have an “Outer Circle” line as well as an “Inner Circle” line, but of course an outer circle would show that the
zone system of fares is a total rip-off. I know that investment must be made in the tube. The only real solution is to duplicate some of the most heavily tralled routes with deeper and larger tunnels so tha “specialised” rolling stock would not be needed.
The so called Private Finance Initiative system has ensured that the tube will just goes down “the tubes”.

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