High Line Transitions

Source: New York Times Aug 2010

At the foot of the High Line is the Meat-Packing District, an area that has seen its share of transition.  When industrial freight deliveries stopped coming through, the area became during the 1980s "notorious as a postindustrial wasteland, populated by body shops, truck yards, and transvestite prostitutes". (New York Magazine) The High Line winds from the Meat-Packing District up through the Gallery District and West Chelsea, with Phase III planned to reach nearly to Clinton.  Since the High Line development has begun and bolstered by celebrity endorsements, the neighborhoods below are now home to condominiums and luxury rentals as well as restaurants and retail, making the High Line park a destination in its own right. Many view it as an urban green oasis. Others see it as culture-less and a harbinger of displacement.


“The High Line has been a very positive influence to push activities to Washington [St.], which was sort of a back street, but now it’s become very prime,” Mr. Pariser said. (New York Times)

A rendering of the design for the new Downtown Whitney Museum of American Art on Gansevoort St., viewed from the south. The High Line park is at right.
Source: The Villager

Source: Urban Sherp June 2009

Sources:

New York Times "As a Park Runs Above, Deals Stir Below" August 10, 2010
The Villager "Whitney Museum is still on track for 2012 opening"
New York Magazine "The High Line: It Brings Good Things to Life"
Urban Sherp "The High Line Greenspace Opens in NYC" June 17, 2009